Shifting Tides
by still-lostinmyhead
Summary: In short: Bella is a shape-shifter in turmoil, Rosalie is hopelessly confused, and Edward is a very awkward boy. Bella/Rosalie.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Bella walked out of the airport and looked around at the semi-busy street around her. Cars where pulling up to pick up and drop off passengers, but there was one car that stood out more than the rest. Bella smiled softly and started walking towards the police car and the older man standing next to it.

His gray hair had been creeping back more and more over the years, and he just had a few left on his mostly bald head. His smile was as genuine as ever and Bella leaned into a hug as soon as she got near her father.

"Hey, Dad." She said, making sure not to squeeze too hard. He'd had a hip replacement surgery just a couple of months before and she knew it was taking a little bit longer than normal for him to recover.

"Bells." He said gruffly into her hair. "It's so good to have you home."

She leaned back and smiled at him.

"Is this all you have?" He pointed to the case she was pulling behind her.

"Yep." She picked it up and threw it into the trunk.

Charlie walked slowly back around to the driver's side of the car as Bella hopped into the front seat.

"How was your flight?" He asked as they pulled out of the airport's parking lot.

"Hot." She said, gazing out of the window at the trees lining the road. It was a cloudy day in Washington, and she was surprised that it wasn't raining yet. It was always raining here.

He grunted.

"Do you still live in that little house on Park St?" Bella looked over at him.

"Of course I do, Bells." He laughed. "I can barely get the lawnmower out of the garage these days. How do you think I would manage a whole house?"

She smiled. "Just checking." She looked out of the window again. "It's been awhile."

They sat in the quiet for a few minutes. Outside the sky finally decided that it wanted to rain.

"How are you doing?" He asked quietly.

Bella rubbed at a dirty spot on her jeans. "Fine."

She looked over and sighed at the disbelieving look on Charlie's face. "We were expecting this, Dad."

"I know." He nodded. "That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt."

"I never said it didn't."

Bella looked out the window again. "Mom had lung cancer for 5 years. I'm surprised it took her this long to pass on."

"Yeah." He said quietly. "How did Phil take it?"

"As well as you can." She said. Phil, her step-father of over forty years, had been sad to see her leave Phoenix and the house she had shared with them since her mother's illness began. She felt slightly guilty leaving him behind, but she needed to get away more than he needed her to stay. Bella looked over at Charlie. He was older than her mom was, and there were more physical complications every year it seemed. She hated thinking about what was inevitable for him.

They arrived at Charlie's house a few minutes later. It looked the same as Bella had remembered it – on the smaller side but still nice, and situated conveniently in the middle of town. She didn't have a car – had never owned a car – and so getting around in public was going to be easier with the house being so close to the school she would be attending.

Bella got her suitcase out of the trunk and walked up to the house with Charlie. She smiled fondly as she walked inside. The kitchen had a few pizza boxes and used dishes strewn around the room, the living room had a baseball game on and a few empty beer bottles near the couch, and what she could see of the laundry room had piles of laundry along the floor. Nothing had changed.

"You remember where your room is?" He asked as he walked over to the fridge and grabbed a beer.

"You remember what your doctor said about all that beer?"

He chuckled and headed over to the couch. "I'm gonna just sit and watch the game for a few minutes, Bells. Let me know when you get hungry."

Bella's room was the same as the rest of the house. It hadn't changed in the decades she had lived with Renee. Situated at the top of the stairs next to the little bathroom they shared, it was pretty small and just housed a bed, desk, and a few bookshelves next to the only window. She threw her suitcase onto the bed and opened the window, sitting on the ledge with one leg dangling out.

It had been too long since she had visited Charlie. He was getting older and time never stopped, no matter how much Bella wanted it to. She knew she would never get as much time with them as she wanted. He had come out to see her in Phoenix for years before traveling just got too hard for him. She hadn't been to Forks in at least a decade. Her mother's illness had taken all of her time and attention.

Bella closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the window frame. The loss of Renee was still raw. She knew that she was lucky that they got to say goodbye – that they knew that this was coming – but she had lost her mother. Her mother, who had accepted her even though Bella was different, who had comforted her when she was confused and lonely, who had never thought of Bella as anything less than her daughter.

Bella wiped away a tear and started unpacking her things.

Dinner was a quiet affair for them both. Charlie had never been a talker, and Bella had inherited that quality from him. It was a big change from her mother's constant need to verbally process every thought she had and Phil's willingness to engage her.

"I got you some things you might need for school." Charlie said as they were cleaning up their plates.

Bella groaned internally at the thought. "Do you really think I have to go?"

"You've never been in this town with me for more than a few months, Bells, and it was years ago." Charlie said. "No on even knew I had a daughter until I told them about you when you said you were coming." He smiled grimly at her. "You look eighteen years old. It's not like I could have told them that you've been through high school three times and have degrees from a couple of Universities too."

"I guess that wouldn't go over well." Bella sighed.

Charlie pointed into the living room. "The supplies are over there."

Bella walked over and looked at her new backpack filled with notebooks and some folders. "Thanks, Dad."

"Try and make the best of it." He said. "Who knows?" He winked at her. "Maybe you'll find the boy of your dreams hidden in those grimy halls."

"Or girl." Bella said.

Charlie nodded. "Or girl."

Bella shook her head. "You don't have to worry, Dad. I don't have any plans on dating any pre-pubescent teens any time soon." She crinkled her nose in disgust. "That's bordering on pedophilia if you think about it."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Just don't rule it out, Bells." He walked over to her and laid his hand on her shoulder. "I don't want you to be alone." Bella could see the worry in his eyes. She knew what he meant – that he didn't want her to be alone when he was gone. When the last of her family was gone.

Bella turned around and started wiping off the table. "So, when do I have to start my time in the new prison?"

Charlie chuckled. "Tomorrow."

"What?" Bella whirled around. "I just got here."

"And tomorrow is the first day back from summer holidays." Charlie said. "School starts tomorrow, and you are going to be there."

Bella groaned. High school was bad enough the first three times around.

Charlie cleared his throat. It was later in the evening, and they were sitting in the living room with him watching a basketball game and Bella reading.

Bella looked over at him. He seemed to be debating whether or not to say something.

He glanced at her for a moment before looking back at the television. "I have a pretty big yard out back." He said, glancing at her again. "And I fenced it up real high." He nodded out the window. "And there's a good number of trees behind it. There's another development of houses not too far back there, but there is a little patch of forest."

Bella smiled at him. "I've visited you before, Dad."

"I know, I know." He said. "I just want to make sure that if you need to…" He struggled to find the word. "_… shift_, then that's where you could do it safely. I made a door in the very back of the fence so you could get in and out of the trees."

"Thanks, Dad." Bella said. "I really appreciate that."

He just nodded at her and went back to watching the game, looking relieved that he had managed to say what he needed to. He had always had trouble talking about it out loud.

Bella looked out of the window and surveyed the yard. It wouldn't be too bad, she thought. That little patch of trees that he was talking about was fairly big – at least big enough to hide a giant cat walking around. Bella stretched out her neck and tried to feel out her muscles. A run would do her good.

"I think I'll go explore it now." She said, standing up and stretching.

Charlie nodded, fully engrossed in the game, and Bella shook her head at him before walking out of the back door out into the yard.

It wasn't hard to change – it felt as easy as breathing most of the time. Bella closed her eyes and let her body move the way it wanted to. She felt herself grow shorter and her muscles grow much larger. She went down on all fours and stretched out her feline body as she finished the shift. Bella started running towards the back fence and jumped over it as she came near. She landed on one of the branches of a tree and used the vantage point to look around her. There were squirrels running around, and her ears twitched at the call of birds in the trees around her.

Bella jumped down from the tree, landing gracefully on her paws, and started running.

This was her favorite part – when she got to be free, when she got to feel the air along her fur and the wind tickling her ears, when she got to really _run_.

Renee had quite the start when she walked into baby Bella's room and found a little husky puppy in the crib instead of her newborn. Bella hadn't been able to control it as a child and as a result Renee had to homeschool her. She shifted form at every big emotion. When she was angry, a little lion would start mewing at her parents. When she was happy, a puppy would appear, and Bella would lick their faces while she wagged her fluffy tail. It was so much easier to control now – around fifty years later – and Bella had the ability to change into whatever creature she wished.

Bella was already awake when her alarm went off. She stood up from her place on the window ledge and turned it off, stretching a little and looking around at the meager array of clothes she had to choose from in her suitcase. She hadn't gotten around to hanging anything up yet.

Bella walked downstairs to find Charlie sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and some breakfast on the table. He smiled as she walked in the room.

"You're up early."

"I like watching the sun come up." She said as she poured herself a cup of coffee and helped herself to some eggs.

"I don't have a car for you yet." Charlie said regrettably. "So it looks like I'll be driving you to school for a while."

Bella made a face. "It'll make a great first impression, I'm sure."

Charlie shrugged. "It's a small town. Everyone already knows who you are."

She nodded and they ate the rest of their breakfast in silence.

It was raining that morning, so after cleaning up and grabbing her raincoat, Bella ran out to the police car that Charlie was already waiting in. The weather made everything more beautiful, Bella thought as they started driving through town. The dark trees stood out against the cloudy sky, and the rain just made everything look more alive. Bella loved to run in the rain.

She was not impressed with the little building they pulled up to. Bella looked over at Charlie. "This is the school?"

"The pride and joy of Forks, Washington." He said ruefully.

She looked out of the window at the parking lot around them. There were a few cars spattered around the lot, but it was mostly empty. "I'm early."

"You need to go in there." Charlie pointed to the door closest to them. "And get your schedule."

"How old am I to them?" She asked.

"Seventeen." Charlie said. "Junior year."

Bella sighed. It was better than being a sophomore.

"I'll pick you up when school is out." Charlie said. "Good luck!" He called out as Bella opened the door and grabbed her bag.

Bella waved as he drove off before turning to look at the school in front of her. She ran a hand through her damp hair and walked up to the door in front of her.

Bella's eyes squinted as she got used to bright fluorescent lighting of the office.

"Hello." An older lady at the desk smiled at her. Her name plate read _Mrs. Bloom_. "How can I help you?"

"I'm Bella Swan." She said as she walked forward. "I need my schedule. This is my first day."

"Oh!" The woman's eyes widened and she gave Bella a once-over. She just stared at her for a few seconds before she seemed to shake herself out of it and started tapping at her computer. "I heard that you were coming in to live with your father." She glanced at her keyboard again and then looked up to stare hard at her face. "I have to say, we were all surprised to hear that your father had such a young child." She shook her head. "I mean, at his age… it doesn't happen often." She gave a little laugh.

Bella smiled tightly at her and looked back out of the window towards the parking lot. More people were starting to arrive. A flash of red caught her eyes, and Bella followed an expensive looking red car as it sped into the parking lot. She raised her eyebrows as another expensive car followed this one, going just as fast and rushing into a parking space.

A cleared throat caused Bella to turn around as the woman picked up a piece of paper from the printer. "Here you go, dear."

Bella took the schedule and looked it over. There was nothing to be excited about, but Bella hadn't expected any fun classes. High school was never fun.

"Thank you."

"I have to say, dear." The woman said as Bella was starting to turn around towards the door. Bella looked back. The woman was looking at her strangely again. "I never would have expected a daughter of Charlie Swans to be so…" She trailed off and Bella frowned slightly at her, wondering if there was something wrong. The woman blinked a few times and looked away, "… well, so beautiful." She gave a little laugh. "Your mother must be quite the catch."

Bella flinched. "Thank you." She said again before turning to the door that looked like it opened into a hallway. Humans just seemed to get stranger the longer she was around. She glanced out the window and noticed that the parking lot was full now. She looked back down at her schedule before opening the door. She had History in room 3. That wasn't the most helpful of directions, but Bella opened the door and walked down the hall.

She could feel people staring at her as she looked around at the tops of doors she passed, looking for the right number. Some looked confused, while others had apparently gotten the memo and where whispering to their friends about who she was. She sighed and tried to look busy as she looked down at her schedule.

Bella arrived at room 3 a few minutes before the bell rang and paused a moment before going in. She went straight to the teacher at the front – a middle-aged white man with a frayed suit – and introduced herself.

"Hello." She said to him. He looked up, startled. "I'm a new student here." She smiled at him. "I just wanted to introduce myself." She held out her hand. "I'm Bella Swan."

The teacher looked at her hand in confusion for a few moments before standing abruptly and shaking it. "Hello, Bella." He said. "I'm Mr. Michaels and I'll be teaching World History." He nodded to the room. "Feel free to take a seat wherever you want and we will start in a few minutes."

Bella turned around and started walking to the back. Seats had already started being filled, and she could feel their stares on her as she sat down at a desk near one of the windows. She leaned her head on her hand and watched the rain stream down it as she tried to ignore their whispers. She could hear what they were saying, of course, and it was hard to rein her acute hearing to just focus on the rain.

"Who is _that_?"

"Is that another Cullen?"

"I think it's Bella Swan – the police chief's daughter."

"But he's so _old_!"

A chair was moved quietly at the desk beside her and Bella closed her eyes. She didn't want to do this. High school kids where the worst with their staring and their probing questions. Most of them didn't understand what it meant to have a private life.

She heard the rustle of someone siting down.

Bella turned her head and opened her mouth to say a reluctant "Hello," but the words seemed to get stuck in her throat. Bella could feel her eyes widen slightly as she looked at the person sitting next to her. The blonde woman was staring towards the front of the room, evidently ignoring her, and Bella hurried to turn her head back towards the window and blink repeatedly.

She took a few seconds to rearrange her face into an expression that passed for normal before turning back around. "Hi. I'm Bella."

She barely spared Bella a side-glance and didn't speak for a few moments. "Rosalie."

"Right." Bella looked down at the desk and tapped her finger against it a few times.

"You're new?"

"I just moved in with my father yesterday."

"And you're already back to school?" She raised a perfect eyebrow and leaned back in her seat languidly. She looked decidedly disinterested in their conversation. Bella felt her insides start squirming in an uncomfortable but familiar way, the burn and need to shift spreading suddenly through her body, and she quickly looked away from Rosalie. She swallowed hard and tried to clear her mind, working to quell the rising itch that was starting to course through her.

Bella shrugged. "It was the first day." She waved her hand to indicate the room. "Besides, who wouldn't want to miss interacting with all of these lovely people?"

Rosalie didn't laugh, although her eyebrow twitched slightly.

"What brings you to Forks?" Rosalie reluctantly asked.

Bella cleared her throat. "Don't you already know?"

Rosalie hummed and looked around the room. Bella noticed that it seemed like every person in the class was staring at them. She frowned and looked over to Rosalie to ask her why, when she noticed the change in expression on her face. The faces around the room had abruptly turned back towards the front at the glare Rosalie was sending them.

Bella's eyes widened at Rosalie as she turned back towards her.

That's weird, Bella thought. Her eyes were so dark when she had turned back, but were now the same light gold that they had been before. She shook her head slightly and decided that it must have been the light from outside that had changed them.

"Yes." Rosalie answered Bella's question. "I do already know."

"But you're still asking."

Rosalie didn't respond.

"I don't really want to talk about it." Bella said. She didn't want to talk about her mother's death to anyone, much less this beautiful stranger.

Rosalie shrugged.

"What other classes do you have today?" Bella asked. "It would be nice to know at least one person."

Rosalie stared at her.

Bella clenched her jaw and refused to look away. She wasn't being unreasonable. She was trying to have a perfectly normal conversation.

Bella reached into her bag to get the schedule she had been given. She put in the desk for Rosalie to look at.

Rosalie slowly looked down at the paper. "We have Biology together." Rosalie said, "And Art." She slid it back over to Bella. "You seem to share every class with either me or one of my siblings."

"You have siblings?" Bella asked.

Rosalie nodded. "Four."

"And they all go to school here?"

"Yes." Rosalie said. "We are all adopted, and are very similar in age."

"Oh." Bella said, nodding. "How long have you lived together?"

"A long time."

"It's good that you have each other." Bella said. "Some kids in the system never find a family."

Rosalie paused as the teacher stood up and started speaking to the class. "Yes." She said very quietly. "I suppose we are very lucky." She gave Bella a peculiar look, one that Bella didn't even know how to start deciphering, before turning back to the teacher.

Bella found it extremely hard to pay attention to the class, and not just because she had heard this material countless times before. Rosalie's presence was distracting for Bella, who couldn't stop thinking about how close their arms were on the table and how much she wanted to move her leg just _inches _to the right so that it would touch Rosalie's. It wasn't just Rosalie's beauty that had struck Bella, as Bella had never reacted so strongly to another person before. She was usually able to hold the itch off by shifting every once and awhile, and she had just gone for a run last night. There was no reason for her body to be vibrating slightly under her skin, itching to burst out and run free. It wasn't normal. Bella was brought back to the present by Rosalie as she swept her long blonde hair to one shoulder and sighed quietly. Bella snuck a glance over and to her surprise found Rosalie staring right back at her.

Bella's breath got caught somewhere in her lungs – _again _– and she didn't make a move to look away. Rosalie seemed to be studying her face, as if she was trying to find something hidden there. Bella didn't know if she found it or not, but Rosalie turned away as the bell sounded. Bella sucked in a breath and started packing up her things with slightly shaking hands.

What the _actual _hell? Bella thought to herself as she stood up and put her bag over her shoulder. She needed to get a grip or she was just going to keep making a fool of herself or hurting someone. She didn't know which she feared more.

"Do you know how to get to your next class?" Rosalie asked. She looked like she wanted nothing more than to bolt out of the room.

"I don't." Bella said honestly, shaking her head.

"I saw you before class started." Rosalie said as she abruptly turned and started walked out of the door and into the hall. Bella hurried to follow and noticed that people around them were staring again. "And it seemed like you were having trouble navigating the four hallways in this school."

Bella rolled her eyes. "It's my first day. I'm still unfamiliar with where to go."

Rosalie didn't reply. Bella had a feeling that was a habit of hers.

"Rosalie!" A booming voice shouted as they rounded a corner. Bella looked up and saw a very large man walking towards them. His muscles seemed to be bursting out of his clothes, but the boyish grin on his face made him slightly less intimidating. Her skin started crawling even more as his large presence drew nearer and nearer to them. She tried to arrange her face into a neutral expression while her internal conflict got worse and worse.

"Emmett." Rosalie said as he stopped in front of him. "Bella, this is my brother Emmett."

Emmett lunged forward before Bella could say a word and picked her up and started twirling her around in the air. Bella just looked at him with wide eyes as he set her down on the floor. "Hi." She choked out.

Rosalie slapped him on the arm and hissed, "Emmett. Behave yourself." She shot him a glare before turning back to Bella. "Sorry about him." She rolled her eyes. "He's a child."

Bella tried to smile up at the giant and shrugged.

Emmett started walking with them and casually laid his arm on Bella's shoulders. He pouted at Rosalie. "See, Rosie? Bella Bear doesn't mind."

Bella raised her eyebrows at him. She very much minded, and the arm around her shoulders felt like a burning fire. She side-stepped out of his arm.

He shrugged, still wearing that stupid, big grin on his face.

Rosalie glared at them. Her nostrils flared but she didn't say anything, instead pulled them to a stop in front of a door. "Here's your class, Bella."

Emmett clapped his hands loudly. Bella flinched – it sounded like two rocks banging against each other. "Me too!" He steered Bella into the room and threw a grin over his shoulder. "See you at lunch, Rosie!"

Bella looked around him and waved to Rosalie, who was still glaring at them both as they walked away.

Emmett plopped down at a table near the back and pulled Bella into the seat next to him. "How do you like Forks, Bella?"

Bella tried to casually pull her chair to the end of the desk farthest from him. She rolled her eyes at the question she had already received too many times today. "It's fine." She glanced out of the window. "Dreary."

He nodded. "The sun comes out about," He looked up at the ceiling as if trying to count, "every two years."

She snorted. Emmett looked to the front as the teacher stood up and started talking, and Bella leaned down to pull the textbook out of her bag. The class was repetitive – she had heard the quadratic formula song so often throughout her life that sometimes she found herself singing it in her sleep. She found it harder and harder to concentrate on anything but the itch creeping under her skin as the class went on.

Sometimes, she could feel a pair of eyes on the side of her head, but every time she turned towards Emmett his searching gaze had moved to the paper in front of him or the teacher in front of the class.

His eyes were gold, she realized as she studied the side of his face. It looked to be chiseled by the same hand that Rosalie's was, if a bit more carelessly. He was beautiful and he had golden eyes. She frowned down at her notes.

The rest of the Cullen's proved to be just as similar. They all made her itch like mad. She met Jasper and Alice in her next class, and Alice smiled brightly at her when she walked in the door, waving her over enthusiastically to their table. She had pulled up a chair next to her and Bella found herself sitting in it before she had even gotten a chance to introduce herself. Jasper smiled at her, but he looked like he was dealing with some nasty stomach pain. They both had golden eyes too.

"Hi, Bella!" Alice said brightly. "I've heard so much about you."

"Really?" Bella asked, frowning. "How so?"

Alice bit her lip and leaned forward. "The people of Forks can't stop their gossiping, Bella. They have received a new object of obsession and they just can't help themselves."

Bella rolled her eyes – she had never noticed how often she did that – and glared around the room. Again, people seemed to have nothing better to do than stare. "I've noticed."

"Don't blame yourself." Alice said. "It's mostly us."

At Bella's confused look, Alice elaborated. "My family and I don't usually socialize outside of ourselves." She explained.

"Why?" Bella asked.

Alice shrugged, but there was a flash of something in her eyes – caution or hesitation, maybe. A bright smile from her distracted Bella. "No one usually captures our interest."

"Why are you talking to me then?" Bella asked bluntly.

Alice looked at her. Jasper seemed to clear his throat slightly and shifted in his seat.

"Well," Alice said. "It seems that you _have _captured our interest." She mumbled something else under her breath, and Jasper chuckled. Bella frowned slightly when she realized that she couldn't catch what Alice whispered. She definitely should have been able to hear her. She could hear the boy across the room mumbling to himself about the letter he was writing, and she could hear the girls in the back whispering about the "weird new girl." Maybe it was because she was so distracted.

"Oh." Bella said. She turned away from them and tried to pay attention to the lecture on Hamlet that was happening. She had never been great at making friends with people her own age. She probably had been fine at it at one point – she could vaguely remember a few friendly, young faces that she used to be around all the time – but as she had gotten older, the younger someone was the duller they seemed. Teenagers were immature, there was no getting around it. They grew out of it, sure, but Bella was stuck among them and she had lost hope in ever finding friends that appeared to be her age. This immediate attention she was receiving was not expected, and Bella really wasn't sure what to do with it. Especially because this family caused such a strong reaction inside of her.

"I'm sorry I have to say this." Alice began as they stood up when the bell rang for lunch. "But if you sit with us at lunch, it will crush any hope of you finding any other friends." She held onto her arm for a moment and looked at her with her big, sad eyes. "I would like nothing more than to invite you to sit with us, Bella, you have to understand, but…" She trailed off.

"Oh." Bella said. She hadn't even thought about lunch. "Okay." She cursed herself for her inability to talk in front of these beautiful people. It wasn't just Rosalie that took her breath away, although, Bella grudgingly admitted to herself, Rosalie was by far the most beautiful in the family.

They walked into the lunchroom. Alice gave Bella a little wave before pulling Jasper away, and Bella sighed as she looked around at the crowded room full of crowded tables full of loud people.

"Nope." She shook her head and spun on her heel, making her way past all of the people going into the room. She realized that this was the perfect opportunity for her to blow off some of the pressure that had been building all morning. She made her way down the quiet hallways until she found the exit, and walked outside in relief. She quickly made for the tree line not too far from the parking lot, and as soon as she got there she started running.

Rosalie found her after the lunch hour was over and she was back inside walking down the hall.

"Bella." She said sharply.

Bella jumped. "Oh, hi." She felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. "I didn't hear you come up." It was better now that she had shifted. The itch was faint and Bella tried her hardest to ignore it.

"You didn't go to lunch." Rosalie stated. She was frowning and glaring at her again.

Bella gave her a weird look. "How do you know that?"

Rosalie raised an eyebrow. "All the boys in the cafeteria were paying attention to their food and not their new toy."

Bella made a face. "Gross."

They walked in the classroom that they apparently shared. Rosalie held the door open for Bella, but she noticed that Rosalie shut it a little too hard on the boy who was rushing into the room after them.

"I wasn't hungry." Bella said

Rosalie gave her a searching look.

"Alice is in this class too." Rosalie said as she smoothly sat down in her seat, glancing meaningfully at the one next to her.

Bella sat down. "I like Alice."

Rosalie whipped her head towards her and Bella quickly added, "Jasper seems nice too."

"They're dating." Rosalie said.

"Okay." Bella said. "Good for them."

Rosalie searched the side of her face. "They're adopted."

Bella frowned. "I know? You told me."

"Most people frown on their relationship." Rosalie said. "Because we share a family."

"Well, that's stupid." Bella grumbled. She saw a flash of a something that looked like a smile from Rosalie and before she could stare at it like an idiot, her attention was literally pulled away to the little person who starting hanging off her arm.

"Hi!" Alice was smiling brightly at her, jumping up and down as she held onto Bella's arm.

"Hi, Alice." Bella said. She resigned herself to a class full of loud whispers from Alice – ones that the teacher studiously ignored – but Bella couldn't bring herself to mind that much.

She met Edward in her next class – the last of the day. She found her way to it on her own and as she ducked into the classroom, she went straight towards the table in the back where the only Cullen she hadn't met was sitting. She wasn't feeling the best – her shift during lunch helped, but she could feel the need itching under her skin.

"Hi, Edward." She said as she sat down.

"Hello." He said, shifting in his seat.

She looked over at him, but found that he was having trouble meeting her eyes.

"You okay?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh." He said. "Yes, I'm fine." He looked up at her, concerned. "Do I look like I'm not fine?" He seemed genuinely concerned.

"No, no." She reassured him. There was an awkward pause. He was looking around the room awkwardly. "I've met your family." She said, trying to talk with him before class started. "They are very nice." And they make me want to jump out of my skin, Bella added in her head.

"They are very nice to me as well." He frowned. "Well, of course they are – they're my family – but I was just agreeing with what you said about them being nice." He started tapping his fingers against his desk as if he was playing the piano. Bella wondered if it was a hobby of his.

"I've taken Biology before, so I don't think this is going to be a hard class for me." Bella tried again.

"Yes, I have taken it before as well. It has become a boring subject." He was staring down at his hands in concentration.

"Are you alright?" She asked again.

"I'm feeling wonderful." He stated with absolutely no change in his expression.

She waited. He just kept shifting his eyes to look at anything that wasn't Bella.

"You're strange." She decided.

He looked up to her with wide eyes. "What?"

"Maybe you just don't know how to talk to people." She said, smiling slightly. "And that's totally fine!" She reassured him. "I like it."

"I…" He looked at a loss. "I do talk."

She hummed. "Of course you do, Eddy."

He frowned. "I don't know if I like that."

"I do." She said, laughing. "Get used to it."

He stared at her for a second before turned back to the front.

Bella decided that she liked Edward. He was just as beautiful as the rest – and had the same damn _golden _eyes – but his hair was defying gravity in a truly laughable way and the way he held himself was just so _awkward. _Everything about him screamed 'teenage boy.' Bella stared at the side of his face as class began. He glanced towards her, but quickly away again when he noticed she was staring. He tapped his pencil on the table and it seemed like he tried to arrange his face into a smile before turning back to her, but Bella had to hold her hand tightly against her mouth to hold in the laughter that was threatening to escape. He turned away again, with that stupid, toothy smile on his face, and didn't look at her for the rest of class.

Bella was going to be friends with him, if for no other reason than it was going to make being in Biology for the fifth time that much more bearable.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** :

Oh my god I had so much trouble posting this chapter... what's up with the weird format when I copy/paste a chapter in? So annoying.

Anyway, here's another chapter. I really didn't think people still kept up with this ship, and have been super surprised with the traffic this has gotten so far. So for those of you still looking for new Bella/Rosalie trash here you go!

Chapter 2

Bella's week went by much like the first day had. Rosalie would say a few words to her in first period (but mostly sit with a glare directed at everything and everyone, including Bella), Alice bounced around her in the hallways, and Edward just got even more awkward as she talked with him. Emmett bear hugged her every time she saw him, and Jasper still looked like he had a stomach ulcer.

She couldn't get rid of that damn itch. It wouldn't go away. It didn't get any worse, but Bella couldn't tell if it ever got any better. She had to keep escaping away at lunch to ease the discomfort, and she started telling the Cullen's that she was spending lunch in the library.

The boys in the school continued to stare at her as she sat in classes or walked the halls, but Bella was thankful that Rosalie was usually next to her acting as a buffer from their lewd stares. She didn't understand why the blonde kept showing up and it was confusing how quickly her family seemed to take to her. Bella didn't understand it, but she tried not to question it too much for her own sake. She was thankful that she had friends that she actually liked being around, and that's all she tried to focus on.

Bella hopped up from her perch on the window when her alarm went off. She had been enjoying the cool air against her skin, and decided that she wanted to walk to school. It wasn't raining for once and the weather was lovely – so nice and brisk. Charlie tried to protest, but Bella insisted on walking. It felt nice to be outside.

As she walked, the wind blew her hair around her face as she felt a few rain drops hit the top of her head. Bella lifted her head and smiled as the drops hit her nose and cheeks.

She arrived at the school building a little early because she had given herself plenty of time to get there. Bella pulled out a book from her bag and sat down on a patch of grass, deciding to pass the time with one of the new books she had gotten from her recent visit to Fork's small library. She had managed to find a few books from the dismally meager collection when she had walked there during a lazy afternoon.

Someone sat down next to her on the grass, and Bella glanced up.

"Hi." A girl with dark hair said quietly. "Do you mind if I sit next to you?"

Bella smiled and shook her head. "Not at all." She reached out her hand. "I'm Bella."

"Angela." The girl smiled back and shook her hand. She took out her own book from her backpack and started reading next to Bella.

Bella stared at the side of her face. "What are you reading?"

Angela held up the book for Bella to see. "Macbeth." She shrugged. "It's for English, but I'm actually really enjoying it."

Bella hummed and nodded. "I can appreciate a tragedy."

"Are you liking Forks so far?" Angela asked after a moment.

Bella shrugged. "It's very… gloomy." She shot her a grin.

Angela blinked a few times and stared at her for just a few seconds too long, when someone cleared their throat. Bella looked up and saw Rosalie standing above them looking very unamused.

"Hi, Rosalie." Bella said. She waved her hand, "This is my new friend Angela."

"Charmed." Rosalie said flatly. She raised an eyebrow at Bella. "Are you planning on going to class today or are you just going to enjoy the damp grass?"

"It's not that wet." Bella argued, jumping up and reaching out a hand to help Angela. She shot her a smile as she swung her bag around her shoulder. "Well, it was nice meeting you Angela. I'll probably see you around."

Rosalie stalked off towards the main doors and Bella trailed after her.

"What's got you in a mood?" Bella asked as Rosalie slammed through the doors.

She whirled around and Bella took a few steps back. "Nothing!" She snarled, before turning back towards the hallway. Everyone around her gave a very wide birth as Rosalie stalked past them, most glancing at her with fearful looks.

Bella cocked her head as she looked after Rosalie, before shaking her head and walking to class. It was impossible to understand her erratic mood swings.

Bella started sitting with Angela and her friends sometimes at lunch on days when the itch was bearable, and they turned out to be surprisingly decent company. It annoyed her when Mike wouldn't stop staring at her with glossy eyes and when Jessica snuck glares her way when she thought she wasn't looking, but as far as teenagers went they weren't that bad.

"You talk with the Cullen's a lot." Lauren, a blonde girl with icy eyes, said one day while they were eating.

"Yeah." Bella nodded while she peeled a banana. She looked up as silence met her response. Everyone was staring at her as if they were waiting for something. "So?"

"They don't talk to anyone." Jessica said, leaning in and dropping her voice. "They hang out with each other – even _date_ each other – but no one else is good enough for them."

Bella snorted. "Who turned you down?" She glanced over at the family in question and noticed that they were sitting very still. The Cullen's seemed to have their own table that was situated in the back corner, away from everyone else's. They didn't seem to be moving when Bella glanced over, but as she kept looking Emmett started waving his arms as if he was explaining something and Alice started picking at the food in front of her. Rosalie had a stony face and was staring silently at the wall.

Jessica looked at her with wide eyes. "_What?_"

"You sound bitter." Bella said, stabbing a piece of watermelon with her fork and eating it, bringing her eyes back to her own table.

"It's not just me." Jessica said, sounding defensive. "He turns everyone down."

"Don't tell me it's Eddy." Bella smiled, raising an eyebrow. Jessica's face gave her all the answer she needed.

"Have you ever been to La Push?" Angela asked her, obviously changing the subject.

"It's been a while." Bella said. That was a bit of an understatement.

"We're going next weekend!" Mike said a little too enthusiastically. "You should come." His puppy dog eyes made her want to gag.

"Maybe." Bella said. She shrugged, "I'll have to see if I have anything planned." That was a lie, but Bella couldn't bring herself to care. She didn't want to be in any situation where she could be cornered alone by Mike Newton.

"They have a nice beach." Angela said. Bella smiled over at her and nodded. She liked Angela – she was quiet and seemed very mature for her age. She wasn't pushy and seemed to read social situations very well.

The bell rang and they stood up to go. "I'll see you later." Bella said as she waved goodbye to them as most of them started walking in the opposite direction of her class.

Bella sat down in her seat and pushed her hair out of her face. She sighed and pulled it up into a messy bun to get it out of her way.

"Bella." Rosalie said as she sat down. Rosalie turned to look at her, and froze as soon as she did. Bella could hear her breathing stop, and she raised her eyebrows slightly as Rosalie blinked a couple of times as if to clear her head. Rosalie looked away and ran a hand through her hair. She took a deep breath before she turned back to Bella. "Hello." She was looking at her with half-lidded eyes that were a deep gold and Bella swallowed hard.

"Hi." Bella said.

Rosalie leaned forward slightly. "Bella, would you –."

She was cut off abruptly as the teacher stood up and started talking loudly, and Rosalie closed her eyes in frustration before turning to the front of the class.

Bella spent that weekend lounging around the house, sometimes watching TV with Charlie and reading some of the books she had brought with her. She spent a good portion of both days outside in different forms, leaping from tree to tree and trying to burn off the itch that was so prevalent.

The next Monday, as Bella walked into the school parking lot, she reached it right as the Cullen's were speeding into the lot. Bella changed directions as the fancy cars parked in the farthest corner.

"Bella!" Alice sang as she bounced out of the silver Volvo and into Bella's arms. "Did you have a nice walk?"

"It was lovely." Bella said.

"You know, we could drive you if you want." Edward said as he locked his car. He waved his hand towards the two vehicles. "We have room."

"I like the fresh air." Bella said, linking arms with Edward as they walked towards the school. She was pleasantly surprised to find that the itch was faint that day, and she breathed a little easier knowing that her discomfort was lessoning as she spent more time with them.

Bella caught a faint growl rumbling through the air, and her ears perked up. She titled her head to the side and also caught Alice whispering, "Rose, if you can't control yourself I'm going to throw you into your car!"

Bella blinked and looked behind them, where she saw Rosalie glaring at the back of Edward's head. Her nostrils flared and she brushed off Emmett's hand as she walked past them and into the school.

"What's into her?" Bella asked. That growl had sounded just like some of the more ferocious animals Bella ran into when she shifted. She frowned at Rosalie as she stalked away.

"Oh, just the usual." Alice said. "Rose can be quite awful to be around when she doesn't get her way."

Bella hummed and gazed after Rosalie. She was gone within seconds and Bella turned towards Edward. She patted down his hair a little bit and swatted his hand away as he tried to fix it.

Emmett laughed. "We've been trying to hint that Eddy here uses too much hair product for _years_, Bella." He swung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her away from Edward. "I don't know how you think you're going to be more successful."

"I have full confidence in myself." Bella said seriously. "He needs to be helped, and I think I can be the one to put my foot down."

"You would have all of our gratitude." A deep voice drawled from next to Alice. Jasper smiled wryly at her. "He makes the house smell awful every morning."

Edward groaned. "Guys, stop making fun of me." He ran a hand through his hair and stalked off, similar to how Rosalie had. "I don't have to deal with this."

Alice's laugh sounded like a bunch of bells tinkling together. "Oh, get over yourself, brother." Bella looked up at the sky and smiled as the gray clouds danced to Alice's laughter.

They reached the school building and said their goodbyes as they went to their respective classes. Bella's eyes went straight to Rosalie as she walked into her class. She was gazing out of the window beside their table with her arms crossed, looking like she would bite anyone who dared disturb her bad mood.

Bella sighed as she sat down and Rosalie moved her gaze to the opposite wall, refusing to look at her. "What's up?"

One of Rosalie's eyebrows raised.

Bella waited, but Rosalie didn't say anything.

She turned away.

Rosalie was quiet for the rest of class, and she didn't look like she was even breathing. She sat perfectly still – like she had been chiseled out of stone right there in front of Bella. Bella found herself lost in thought during the class period. The gold eyes and beautiful features that the Cullen's shared confused her. Sometimes she couldn't hear them breathing for long periods of time, and Bella kept replaying that growl she heard over and over in her head. She felt warmth start spreading in her stomach and she could feel her fingers start to tingle. Bella sat up straighter and took a deep breath. She cast her mind around for something else to think about, and started memorizing the formula that the teacher had written on the board. She repeated it over and over in her head until the heat had gone down and the trembling in her body had stopped.

When the bell rang, Rosalie didn't move and neither did Bella. The class cleared out and without a glance the teacher left too.

Bella glanced at her warily and cautiously reached her hand out. Rosalie jumped as Bella laid her hand on her knee, and Rosalie's head whipped around to stare at her.

"Did I do something to offend you?" Bella asked, frowning and scrunching her eyebrows together.

Rosalie shook her head.

"Okay." Bella said, searching her gaze. "Then why in the world are you ignoring me?"

Rosalie closed her eyes and turned her face partially away. She let out a breath through her nose and turned around. "I apologize." She grabbed the hand that was still on her knee and used it to help Bella to her feet. They grabbed their stuff and Rosalie led Bella to the hallway, where she dropped her hand as they started walking towards Bella's next class.

"It's fine." Bella said. "But what-?"

"I am a jealous person, Bella." Rosalie interrupted her. "You should know that."

"Okay." Bella said, cursing herself for not having anything else to say.

Rosalie looked as if she was going to say something else, but the bell interrupted her. "I should be going to class." Rosalie said. She gave Bella's arm a soft squeeze before spinning around and rushing off.

"What are you doing this weekend?" Rosalie asked as she walked Bella to her last class of the day, where Bella knew Edward was waiting for her. Bella was still thinking about what Rosalie had said earlier that day. She had been surprised to see Rosalie show up to walk her to her classes every time she walked out of a room, and she hadn't missed the glares Rosalie sent her sibling's way whenever they got Bella's attention.

Bella couldn't figure it out. Rosalie was definitely not the friendliest of the Cullen family. Alice and Emmett beat her by far, and Bella sometimes doubted that Rosalie even liked her very much. She was very rude sometimes, and not just to Bella. She was rude to _everybody_, it seemed, and Bella just seemed to get the dialed down version of Rosalie most of the time. She couldn't figure out why.

Bella shrugged. "My dad mentioned going over to see one of his old friends, Billy, and he has a son that I used to be really good friends with." Bella bit her lip. "I guess I _am _still good friends with."

"You guess?" Rosalie raised an eyebrow.

"I haven't seen him in a long time." Bella said quietly.

Rosalie nodded.

Bella opened her mouth to say something, when someone knocked her shoulder roughly as he walked past. Rosalie turned back quickly – too quickly, Bella noted – and pushed the boy towards the lockers on the wall. She snarled at him and he gazed at her with wide, frightened eyes. Bella took a step back.

She snarled at him, her face inches from his. The sound of her growls sent icy shivers down Bella's spine, and her hands started trembling again.

The boy looked like he was going to wet his pants.

A pale arm wrapped itself around her shoulders and held her back. "Woah, Rosie." Emmett smiled at her. "Hang on." He looked back over to Bella. "Bella needs to get to class."

Rosalie glared at the boy for another second before stepping back. She slipped her arm around Bella's waist as she led them down the hall, away from Emmett who seemed to be trying to talk to the boy who still looked like he might have an accident right there in the hallway.

Bella looked over at Rosalie, noticed her stony expression and her dark eyes, and decided not to say anything about the arm around her waist. She clenched her fists as hard as she could as she tried to stop the trembling.

They arrived at the classroom door and Rosalie had still not let go of Bella.

"Hey, Rosalie?" Bella asked.

Rosalie looked at her.

"If you don't let me go, I can't go to class." She pointed at the door. "It's right there."

Rosalie looked at the door and then back to Bella. Her eyes were definitely black now, Bella noted. She frowned.

"Bella." Edward had walked up to them. "Would you like to come over to our house on Sunday?"

"What?" Bella asked, more startled than confused.

"I heard that you and your father are busy on Saturday, and I'm sure my parents would love to meet you." Edward explained, edging closer to them slowly. He kept glancing at Rosalie as he spoke, as if trying to get her attention. "Wouldn't that be nice, Rose? To have Bella at the house with us?"

Rosalie closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Bella.

"Yes." She said.

Edward nodded. "Okay." He motioned awkwardly to the door next to them. "Well, we have class now."

Rosalie let go of Bella and turned away abruptly. She started walking down the hall without another word or glance.

"That was weird." Bella said, looking after her.

Edward ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up even more. Bella reached up and tried to pat it down. He looked at her incredulously.

"You know you can't do that to your hair – you look ridiculous."

"I do not!" He said, affronted and patted worryingly at his hair.

She snorted and grabbed his arm. "Let's go to class before your sister captures me again." She looked at him as they walked in the door. "She literally looked like she was going to rip that guy's head off."

"Yes." Edward nodded as they sat down.

"And that doesn't concern you?" Bella asked. "He didn't even do anything. It was obviously an accident."

"Rosalie is…" He trailed off. "One of the more complicated people I have ever met." He shifted in his seat. "I think that boy wasn't watching where he was going."

"Probably." Bella said. "But that doesn't really warrant the head-ripping, does it?"

"Well, she didn't actually…" He waived his hand in the air.

"Yes, because Emmett saved the poor soul." Bella sighed. "He didn't even run into her. It was _me_. What does she care?"

Edward looked at her incredulously.

Bella stared at him. "What?"

He looked away, arranging his face into a neutral expression, and shrugged his shoulders.

"Rosalie is…" Bella trailed off, looking out of the window beyond Edward.

"Yeah." Edward agreed, fixing his hair again.

"Smells good, Bells." Charlie said as he walked in the door that evening. She had taken to making dinner for them both, as Charlie's usual diet consisted of take-out and beer.

"How was work?" Bella asked.

Charlie grunted. "Same old, same old." He slumped down into a chair at the table and closed his eyes.

"Don't you think you should have retired by now, Dad?" Bella asked. He was about 10 years past the age most people do it.

"Oh no." He shook his head. "I just sit in the station all day, joking with my buddies and answering phone calls." He chuckled. "Most of the time it's old Phyllis trying to convince us that her cat's missing."

"Is it?" Bella asked as she put the food down on the table.

"Never." He shook his head. "Always on the porch or up a tree."

They ate in silence for a while.

"What do you know about the Cullen's?" Bella asked.

"The Cullen's?" Charlie asked. "They're good people." He nodded and didn't add anything else.

"Well, what do you know about them?" Bella asked impatiently.

"Carlisle is the best doctor that Forks has ever seen." Charlie said. "And his wife's real sweet – I've seen her around town a few times and she always asks how I'm doing." He took another bite of spaghetti. "Don't know much about the kids though. There has been talk going around about them," He shrugged, "but there's talk about everybody."

"They are very nice." Bella said. "Their kids, I mean. I've been hanging out with them at school."

"Really?" Charlie smiled. "I'm glad you're making friends." He paused. "I know that's hard for you, but it's important."

"I know, Dad." She smiled tightly at him. She changed the topic before it got too close to something she didn't want to talk about. "Are we going to Billy's tomorrow?"

"If that's okay with you." Charlie said.

"Sure." Bella said. "Edward asked if I wanted to come over on Sunday."

At Charlie's confused look Bella elaborated, "Edward Cullen."

"Oh." Charlie nodded, chewing his food slowly. "Edward, huh?"

"God, no." Bella shook her head quickly. "Don't even think about it. No, no, no, never." She shuddered. "He is this awkward boy I have befriended and nothing more."

Charlie laughed. "Okay, okay."

Bella stood up and started washing off the dishes. She shook her head at the thought of Edward being anything more than a friend.

"How old is Jacob?" Bella asked. She hadn't seen him in around forty years, and he was probably old enough to look like he could be her father now.

"Well," Charlie frowned. "I don't actually know." He looked over at her. "He's kinda like you, Bells. Looks the same as he did forty years ago."

Bella frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

Charlie shrugged. They were driving in his police cruiser towards the reservation where Billy lived. "I mean that he doesn't look a day over twenty."

"But that's impossible."

"Wouldn't people say that about you?" Charlie smiled.

"You've never asked how?" Bella asked incredulously. "You've never told me?"

"I have a daughter that is also a giant cat who hasn't aged a day since she was nineteen." Charlie said. "Weird is not new to me, and I'm not one to pry. It's their business."

Bella laughed incredulously and stared out of the window at the dark forest they were driving through. She could remember meeting Jake when she was smaller, back when Charlie and Renee were so clueless and they searched for help anywhere that seemed safe. They didn't know what to do with Bella, and Charlie had remembered the old legends about shifters Billy had told him when they were younger. Bella and Charlie had spent a few months at the reservation, trying to figure out as much as they could.

They arrived at Billy's little house and Bella jumped out of the car after seeing the large figure sitting on the steps to the porch. "Jake?"

She grinned back at the boy – man? – who was grinning at her as she walked towards him. She jumped up into his arms and he twirled her around. He was _hot_, like burning with the heat from the sun, and Bella, who was used to the Cullen's perpetual chill, stepped back quickly as he set her down. "Damn, dude." She looked him up and down. "You're _ripped._" Charlie was right – he hadn't aged a day – and he looked like he would fare pretty well against someone the size of Emmett.

He grinned and raised his arm up to flex it. "You know it, babe." He started posing for her. "I got guns of steel."

She shoved his shoulder and laughed. "Shut it, asshole."

It's like nothing has changed, Bella thought as they all sat around the table having dinner later that day. Bella and Jake had gone out to the garage and messed around with his motorbikes, joking around like they were twelve years old again. They had pizza and beer, and afterwards sat in the living room with a basketball game on. Bella hadn't laughed this much in years. Decades, maybe.

"So," Bella said as they walked around the back yard. It was a lot later, and she was sure that Charlie would want to go home soon. "Are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Jake asked, looking up at the sky above them.

She scoffed and punched his arm. "Why you look like a Calvin Klein model and not some old geezer."

He put a hand over his heart. "You think I look like a model?"

She glared at him.

"Come on, Bella." He shook his head. "You have your secrets, and I have mine."

"Not really." She said. "You know pretty much everything I do about me." When Charlie had figured out that this changing stuff wasn't going to change for her when she was a teenager, he had confided in his best friend that his daughter was a little strange. Billy, someone who believed every legend his tribe passed down, took them in for a while to try and help them figure out what it was that made Bella like this. Jacob was there, of course, and Bella had often snuck out with him while their fathers were talking so that she could chase him around the woods, nipping at his feet with her fangs and leaping tree to tree in order to get him to laugh.

Jacob looked down at his feet. "I can't tell you." He glanced at her. "There are rules."

"What if I guessed?" She asked.

"If you think about it," He said. "It's pretty easy to figure out." He rolled his eyes at the look she gave him. "You know all of the legends, Bella. _Think_."

She frowned at him. "Are you like me?"

"Sorta." He said. "But you're not in _our _legends, are you?"

"But something close is." She said. "The wolves."

He nodded. "The wolves."

They walked around in silence for a few minutes.

"Does that mean you think you can outrun me now?" Bella asked.

Jake barked a laugh. "Obviously."

She made an affronted noise. "I am offended."

Jake twirled gracefully around to face her and cocked an eyebrow. "Race you?"

Bella grinned and took off, letting her body lower itself to the ground as she felt her hands turn into giant paws that pounded along the earth. She glanced over at the giant wolf running beside her with his tongue hanging out. She growled at him and pushed even faster.

They raced through the woods in La Push, trying to trip each other or, in Bella's case, trying to swipe a fallen tree up into Jake's face. It stopped him long enough for Bella to take the lead right was they were entering back into the clearing behind his house.

She laid down, panting, and let her body change back. She laughed up at the sky as she stretched her arms out behind her. "I won!"

"You cheated." Jake said grumpily from where he was trying to put some shorts on. Bella snorted and looked away from him.

"Why don't your clothes burst like mine do?" Jake asked as he laid down beside her.

She shrugged. "I have no idea." She looked down at her shirt. "Maybe this is just like human fur, you know?"

He laughed and shook his head.

Bella and Charlie left not long after that, and Bela couldn't stop smiling as they drove home.

A silver Volvo pulled up outside of the house the next morning as Bella was cleaning up the kitchen. She gazed out of the window above the sink as the vehicle pulled up by Charlie's cruiser. Red, gravity defying hair could be seen in the driver's seat, and Bella grinned as she grabbed her jacket before walking outside. Charlie had gone upstairs to take a nap, so she hurried out through the rain towards Edward's car after locking up.

"Hey, Eddy."

"Bella." He said. They backed out of the drive-way and into the road. "How has your morning fared?"

"Good." She laughed at him. "You talk like an old man."

"I resent that." He said.

"I'm flattered that I was able to stir up such a strong emotion from you." Bella smiled. "You are usually a rock."

"You have no idea." He grumbled. Bella looked at him strangely, but noticed that he had thought that she couldn't hear what he said.

"Emmett is very excited that you are coming over today." Edward said. "He really wants you to play his video games with him." Bella could tell how much displeasure Edward felt towards these video games with the way that he said it.

"I've never played before."

"Good luck, then." Edward shook his head. "Emmett is a child."

"So I've been told." Bella said. She was curious about his giant "child" brother. She only shared one class with him, and the only contact other than that was in the hallways between classes where he usually gave her a bear hug and a grin before running off. He was always very friendly, but she was looking forward to actually spending some time with him.

Bella gasped when the house came into view. It was a mansion set right in the middle of the woods. It had taken them a while to get there, and Bella was sure that they had spent the last fifteen minutes driving deep into the forest on a dirt road.

"This is your house?" She asked.

Edward nodded as he parked the car in front of the garage to the side of the house. He looked over at her. "Be sure to tell Esme how much you seem to appreciate it."

"Is that your mom?" She asked as they got out of the car.

Edward nodded. "In a sense, yes."

They walked up the front porch, but the door opened before Edward could reach it. A small bundle of energy launched herself out of the house and into Bella's arms. "Bella!" Alice leapt back down and gave her a bright smile. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Hey, Alice." Bella stepped back and ran a hand through her hair.

"Are you going to let us in, dear Sister?" Edward asked.

"Of course she is." A new voice said from inside the door. Alice stepped back as a slightly older – but not by much – looking woman stepped into view. "You must be Bella." She walked forward and pulled her into a hug.

"Oh." Bella said as she awkwardly patted the woman on the back. "Hi."

She pulled back and smiled warmly at Bella.

"You must be Esme." Bella said. "You have a beautiful home."

"Oh thank you, dear." She looped her arm through Bella's and walked them into the house. It was just as beautiful inside – it opened into the large living room, with the huge staircase right in front of them. To the right, Bella could see a few steps leading up to what looked like the kitchen.

"This is my husband, Carlisle." Esme said. Bella looked over to the other unfamiliar face in the room.

"Hello, Bella." A blonde man, again only slightly older than his "children," stepped forward to shake her hand.

Bella smiled, trying to ignore how cold his hands were. Esme's hug was just as chilly. She noted that they both had inhuman bright gold eyes, just like everyone else in the "adopted" family.

Bella felt a chill run down her spine as she realized fairly quickly what was impossible to ignore now. She couldn't brush it off as coincidence – there was a reason that everyone in this family had ice cold skin and gold eyes that changed colors sometimes.

They weren't human.

She looked around for something to distract herself from this realization and found Emmett grinning at her from the couch. He leapt up as soon as her eyes landed on him. "Bella Bear!" He wrapped her up in a hug. "You know what we're gonna do today?" She looked at his grinning face and decided that even if they weren't human, they were probably the nicest creatures she had ever met.

"Let me take a guess." Her eyes roamed over the living area where the television was paused on a game, more games strewn around the console, and two controls sitting on the couch. "Play video games?"

"See, she's smart!" Emmett shouted as he pulled her over to the couch. Bella didn't know who he was talking to.

"Emmett." Alice whined. "I want to play dress up with Bella!"

Bella's eyes widened in horror and Emmett guffawed next to her. "Doesn't look like Bella wants to do that."

"Bella." Alice drew her name out. She danced over – like, literally danced – and pouted at her from the side of the couch. "Please."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Later." She picked up the controller and started studying it. "Maybe." She said faintly, glancing up at her with a little grin.

Emmett taught her how to play the game that was already on, and after dying a few hundred times Bella finally felt like she was getting the hand of it. She was even enjoying herself.

Wait until Jake hears about this, she thought wryly. He had tried to get her to play video games with him many times before, but Bella had always refused.

Edward had drifted over to the piano in the back corner of the room, and Esme and Carlisle had disappeared towards the kitchen. Bella cast a look around every once and a while, hoping to catch sight of Rosalie. She didn't show the whole time Bella was playing games with Emmett. Bella found that the urge to shift had lessoned the longer she had known the Cullen's, and it had become nothing more than a slight shiver that went down her spine every once and a while.

Alice finally pulled her away, tugging at her arm impatiently as they went up the stairs. Alice's room was huge, but Bella was trying not to be surprised at the extravagance with which the Cullen's lived.

"I hate shopping." Bella said over Alice, who was trying to already trying to make plans with her for a shopping trip next weekend.

"But I love it." Alice said. "And we can bring Rosalie along."

Bella shot her a look. "Why would that change anything?"

Alice shrugged, but didn't look at her from where she was going through her closet. Bella grumbled and looked out the large window by Alice's bed. She wasn't about to admit that as soon as Rosalie's name came up, shopping didn't seem like the torture it had always been. She frowned while looking down at her hands. Why did she care so much? Bella shook her head slightly.

"Try this on." Alice threw a shirt onto Bella's lap and grinned. Bella flopped back on the bed and groaned.

"Are you hungry?" Alice asked hesitantly as she put away all of the clothes she had made Bella try on. Bella was very thankful that most of Alice's clothes were too small for her, or she knew they would have been stuck in her giant walk-in closet all day.

Bella hummed. "Not really."

"Oh, good." Alice looked strangely relieved at her answer. Bella added "revulsion to food" to the list she had running in her head for the strange and inhuman characteristics her friends displayed.

She wasn't afraid of them, she thought as they went back down the stairs to find Edward. What right did she have to judge? She barely counted as human herself, and she doubted that they could hurt her. The only thing worrying her at the moment was the possibility of her hurting _them_. She moved her shoulders around and flexed her muscles. That run with Jake did her good, but she needed out again soon. The itch to shift was starting to run through her blood.

It got worse when she didn't let out all of the energy in her body. Her control slipped out of her fingertips the longer she went without shifting, and she never wanted to experience that again.

She had lost control once, a long time ago. And that blood would always be on her hands.

Bella tried to shake herself out of the dark thoughts going through her mind as they entered the living room.

Jasper had joined Emmett by the television, and Bella really couldn't help how her eyes automatically drifted over to the back door, where Rosalie was walking inside. She blinked and looked away, over towards Edward, and tried not to think about how her heart had started beating very fast as soon as their eyes had locked.

Edward waved her over to the piano, and she gladly let him distract her from Rosalie, who had sat down on one of the couches in the living room.

"Do you play?" Edward asked.

"A little." Bella swallowed hard and tried to focus on her hands that were placed on the keys. "Years ago."

Renee had bought them a piano a couple of decades ago, and she had begged and begged Bella to learn how to play for her. Bella had obliged, and had played for her mother almost every day. She blinked back tears as she took a deep breath and pressed down on the keys.

"Why don't you play us something?" Rosalie asked from the couch behind them. She was facing away from the piano, but Bella physically felt her attention on them.

Edward took his hands off the keys and nodded to her. She took a deep breath and started playing one of her favorite songs. It was easy to remember – her fingers seemed to know where to go faster than her brain could tell them.

"That was good." Edward said from her side. He smiled down at the keys. "Have you ever played a duet before?"

"Never." She said. "Let's do it."

He immediately began playing a song that was vaguely familiar to her, and she jumped right in with him, trying to remember what she could but mostly making up the notes she felt would harmonize. She could feel Edward grinning at her side as they played, and she couldn't deny the warm feeling that came over her as she tucked a leg underneath her and let herself relax into the music.

She and Edward played around on the piano for a while, it seemed, because when they were done everyone but Rosalie had left the room.

Edward cleared his throat and stood up abruptly. "That was very fun."

"Yeah." Bella laughed.

"I am going to go upstairs because it is time for me to…" He trailed off and gazed around as if looking for a reason. "It is time to play chess with Jasper."

"You have a set time that you play chess?"

"Every Sunday at 2:00."

"Okay." Bella smiled at him as he walked upstairs. "What a strange boy."

She tried to pretend like she didn't hear him stumble on the top step.

Bella looked around the room and her eyes couldn't help – _again _– but be drawn to Rosalie. She was sitting in the same spot that she was before, but with a magazine in her lap now. She was flicking through it lazily as Bella walked towards her.

She looked uncertainly at the space beside Rosalie before deciding to sit down.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **

Okay there is SO MUCH that happens in this chapter. Consider yourself warned.

Also, here's your warning for physical aggression if you don't like to read about people fighting/hurting each other. If this is triggering for you, just skim over the part where she goes to Jake's house or skip it altogether.

Chapter 3

Bella sat there next to Rosalie for a while before reaching over onto the table beside the loveseat they were sitting on and picking up one of the books laying on it. Rosalie didn't seem like she wanted to talk – she was too interested in some car magazine that she was still flipping through.

It was an old book and Bella couldn't tell what it was about from the front or back cover. It turned out to be a fairly interesting novel about an art theft in sixteen century Germany. Bella could feel eyes on the side of her head every now and again, but she always looked over to find Rosalie looking down at her magazine.

"So, you like cars?" Bella asked after a while. She folded down the corner of her page and set the book down on the table again.

"You could say that." Rosalie said without looking up.

Bella pursed her lips. "What do you like about them?"

Rosalie raised her eyes from the magazine to the window in front of them. Bella still hadn't seen Rosalie look at her.

"I like that I'm able to tear every piece of them apart."

"Oh." Bella said. She wasn't really expecting an answer like that.

"And then I can put it all back together." Rosalie finally looked at her "And it works the same as it did before."

"You like that you can't break it?" Bella asked. "Not that you _can't_, because of course you can mess something up, but…" She trailed off, looking thoughtfully at Rosalie. "But it's the act of touching it – touching it all the way to the core – and not hurting it. You may even make it better by touching it."

Rosalie stared at her. Her eyes were a slightly dull gold today, Bella noted.

"I've never been into cars myself." Bella said, looking away. "I don't even own one."

"Would you like to?"

Bella blinked. "I guess." She looked over at her. "It would be nice to not have people drive me around everywhere."

"I could help you with that." Rosalie said, looking uncharacteristically uncertain.

Bella frowned at her. "Why would you do that?"

Rosalie took a deep breath. "I would like to help you.

Bella was unconvinced. Every word sounded like it hurt coming out of her mouth.

"Really?" Bella asked astonishingly. "You don't even really like me, do you?"

Rosalie glanced at her sharply. "What?"

"I mean…" Bella trailed off and looked back out of the window. "You rarely talk, you're always sharp, and you glare at me half the time I'm around you." And sometimes you're strangely possessive, Bella added in her head.

Rosalie glared at the carpet under their feet.

"It's fine." Bella continued. "It's fine if you don't want to be my friend, but –."

Bella was cut off by a cold hand coming to rest on her knee. She looked down at it with wide eyes and then looked up at Rosalie. She wasn't looking at Bella, but her body was leaning closer than it was before.

"I do want to be your friend, Bella." Rosalie said. "In fact, I already consider you that."

"Oh." Bella said.

"I understand that I can be… brash sometimes, but I do not mean to offend you."

Bella blew out a big breath of air. "It's fine."

Bella felt more than heard Rosalie let out a breath and relax slightly. She took her hand away and picked up her magazine. "What kind of car are you thinking about?"

"Not really any." Bella said, her knee tingling from where Rosalie had touched it. "I told you – I don't know anything about cars."

"We'll go to a dealership after school tomorrow." Rosalie said.

"Tomorrow?"

Rosalie raised an eyebrow. "Do you have anything better to do?"

"I suppose not." Bella grinned.

The other Cullen's came back out not too long after that, and Bella tried really hard to ignore the looks they shot Rosalie and her both. She smacked Emmett on the head at one point for wiggling his eyebrows at Rosalie for too long. She glanced over for just a second, but felt her heard stop at the look Rosalie was giving her.

Bella went back home later that evening, after Carlisle showed her around the library and Jasper taught her how to play chess. Edward drove her back, but Bella didn't miss the meaningful look Rosalie was giving him right before they left.

"Did you have a nice time today?" Edward asked quietly. The sky was getting darker, as the hidden sun was setting behind the gray clouds.

"I had one of the best days I've had in a while." She said, looking out the window.

He glanced at her. "I'm glad." He readjusted his grip on the steering wheel. "You are welcome whenever you wish to come over. Esme loved having you there today."

"I think I'll take you up on that." Bella said.

They arrived at Charlie's and Bella waved at him before walking inside. She watched through the window as he drove away, before walking towards the back of the house and out of the back door. Charlie was already asleep – she could hear his deep breathing – and so she didn't worry about letting him know where she was going. She took a couple of running steps before jumping into the air and let her body change. Wings sprouted out of her body and she felt light and free as she flew in a couple of circles around her house to get used to her new body.

She took off towards the dark forest that stretched out below her, twirling through the air and catching the warm air currents that carried her through the sky.

The Cullen's weren't human. She knew that and had a lot of evidence for that. They were inhumanly beautiful, had ice cold skin that never warmed, shared the same gold tint in their eyes, and Bella had never seen them eat.

She lazily dipped down to another current below her that carried her farther forward. She was surprised to realize that she wasn't wary of spending time alone with them.

She did a little spin in the air and dipped down to ghost across the tops of the trees. It didn't matter that she didn't know what they were, she tried to reason to herself. They had proved that they wouldn't hurt her. She had spent an entire day at their home! No one would have known if they had decided to hurt her, and they had every opportunity to do so. But they didn't. That had to mean something.

Rosalie was true on her word that she would take Bella to a car dealership the next day. Bella had told Charlie that he wouldn't need to pick her up after school, and as Bella was walking into the building she noticed that the Cullen's had driven three cars that day instead of the usual two.

Rosalie walked Bella out after their last class of the day. "What does your budget look like?" She asked as she led them out of the school. Everyone was staring again, but Bella was beginning to learn how to ignore it.

"Around $10,000." Bella said. "I don't really want to spend more than that."

Rosalie pursed her lips. "I'll see what I can do."

Sitting in a car alone with Rosalie was not something Bella knew how to do. She ducked into the red BMW that Rosalie drove and gaped around at the interior. "This is so fancy."

Rosalie put the car in reverse and sped out of the parking lot. Bella thought that she was going entirely too fast.

"I designed it."

"Really?" Bella ran a hand along the leather door. "How did you do that?"

"I bought the parts and I put it together." Rosalie said, as if that was something teenagers did all of the time. Bella glanced over at Rosalie at that thought. The word "teenager" didn't fit.

She ran a hand through her hair. "Wow." Bella said as she looked in the back. "That's really cool."

Bella could have sworn she heard a faint purr that definitely hadn't come from the car.

No. Definitely not a teenager.

The car salesman really didn't know who he was dealing with. He sputtered through prices and makes and models, while Rosalie asked a billion questions – most of which Bella didn't even understand. Bella just walked around the cars, lightly running her fingers over them and trying to see what she could inside. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Rosalie glaring hard at the man in front of her, who she could see had shaking hands and a sweat stain spreading out from under his armpits.

Rosalie said a few more words to him before sauntering up to Bella. She leaned forward with a smirk on her lips. "I got him to lower it to $8,000."

"This one?" Bella pointed to the one behind her. At Rosalie's nod, she took a closer look through the window. It seemed really nice for the money shew as giving them, and for some reason she trusted that Rosalie was going to help her get a good car.

"I can fix it up for you." Rosalie said.

"It looks alright." Bella moved to the other side to look through the driver's side window.

"Are you doubting my abilities, Isabella?"

Bella looked up across the hood of the car and grinned. "We can't let your ego get too big."

Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"Okay." Bella said. "Let's buy it." She walked over to the man standing a good ten feet away from them now. As Bella was talking with him, she could see him looking over at Rosalie now and again.

Bella imperceptivity stepped into his line of vision so that he couldn't see Rosalie unless he made it really obvious. He shot her a glare and shoved the paperwork in her hands.

"Ow." She said quietly, looking down at the papercut he had given her. She sucked on her finger. "Do you have a pen?"

He felt his pockets before turning around, claiming to be back soon with one from inside.

Bella rolled her eyes and turned around, but was cut off from saying anything by Rosalie. Bella had been standing right next to an SUV, and as soon as Bella turned Rosalie was _right there _and had pushed her against the large vehicle, out of sight from the building behind them.

Rosalie's eyes were black. Bella searched them for any sign of the Rosalie that had been with her just seconds before, but everything in her gaze was unfamiliar. Not unfamiliar, Bella thought. Primal instincts – that was what she saw in Rosalie's gaze. Like how a lion looks at a gazelle. Predator versus prey.

Bella ignored the fire that had shot through her and brought her hands up to Rosalie's face. "Rosalie." She breathed. "It's Bella." She spoke to her like she would a wild animal in the forest. Rosalie's nostrils flared and she gazed down at one of Bella's hands. Bella noticed that her papercut still had a little bit of blood coming out of it. She quickly hid that hand behind her back.

Rosalie seemed to be carved out of stone. Cold, unmovable stone that looked like it was going to kill her. Bella could feel how Rosalie was holding her in place. The cold was seeping into Bella's skin, and she couldn't help but shiver slightly. _No, no no_, Bella thought to herself.

"Rosalie" She said again, a little louder this time. Bella felt more stirrings in her own body and she pushed it down as hard as she could. Bella's instincts were telling her that she needed to fight – that she needed to let herself _free _– but Bella was not going to do that. She wasn't going to hurt Rosalie.

Bella pressed her hand hard against Rosalie's shoulder. "Please."

Rosalie blinked. Her eyes went from pure black to a lighter brown. Bella sighed in relief, even if it still wasn't anywhere close to the gold she was used to seeing.

"I found a pen." A man's voice could be heard from the other side of the vehicle.

Bella blinked and Rosalie was gone. She gasped in a breath of air she hadn't even known she was holding in and sagged back against the SUV.

"Hello?" The man was almost to her now.

"Hi, yes." Bella walked out into his path. She grabbed the pen and started scribbling her information down with shaking hands.

"I'll need to go in and process this." He said after a few minutes.

"I can't take it now?"

He looked at her with an incredulous look. "Well, no. We need to get the paperwork settled."

Bella ran a shaking hand through her hair and looked around. She spotted Rosalie's BMW in the parking lot.

"Okay." She started walking towards the car. "Call me when I can come pick it up."

She didn't look back as he called out a thank you, and she slammed the door of the red car once she had jumped inside.

She leaned her head against the steering wheel and tried to ignore the smell that permeated the car around her. Rosalie always smelt amazing, but it was more pronounced in her car. Lavender and vanilla.

Bella searched frantically for the keys, not remembering where Rosalie had put them when they arrived, but found them sticking out of the ignition. She shook her head and started the car, peeling out of the parking lot as fast as she dared.

She clenched the steering wheel hard in her hands and added two more things to the list. Blood. She shuddered slightly. Blood had made her crazy.

"And she doesn't need a car to get around." Bella said out loud. She laughed at how preposterous it sounded. Rosalie had disappeared in the blink of an eye. "So, they're superfast." Bella nodded to herself. "Cold, beautiful, ridiculously wealthy." She frowned. "Older than they look." She froze in her seat. The trees racing past her didn't slow down, but Bella felt like she had just been flung underwater.

"Blood." She whispered. "Rosalie wanted my blood."

She glanced in the rearview mirror and noticed that her own eyes had turned black. She opened her mouth and saw her canines sharpening quickly into fangs. She gripped the wheel tighter.

Bella didn't stop driving until she had reached La Push.

"Bella!" Jake said as he opened the door. She had carelessly parked Rosalie's car in front of the house and bounded up to pound on the door.

"What's wrong?" His face fell as he got a good look at her face.

She wordlessly turned around and walked into the forest surrounding his house.

"Whose car is that?" He asked as he caught up with her. He made a face, "God, Bells, you smell awful."

Bella didn't stop until they had reached a clearing where no one would hear them. She turned around.

"I need you to fight me."

Jacob stared at her for a second before realization dawned on him. She could see his face harden as he clenched his jaw. "I'm stronger than I used to be."

She growled. There was a burning in her stomach and she shivered as she tried to hold it inside. She looked up at him, trying to see her friend and not see a creature who was a threat. They were all threats. She had to get rid of them.

She closed her eyes and squeezed her head between her hands. "Please." She choked out.

He ran up to her and swung. His fist crashed into her face and Bella felt herself go airborne – flying into the closest tree behind her. The pain searing through her face grounded her. It reminded her who she was. She stood up and charged at him, making sure to pull back on her strength so that she wouldn't hurt him.

Jacob would pause every minute or so to make sure she didn't want to stop. Near the end, she started to recognize the look in his eyes and the tears running down his determined face.

She took a deep breath from where she had landed and pulled herself up to her hands and knees. She coughed and spit out some blood.

Jacob's hand came into her peripherals. "Done?" He pleaded with her. She nodded and grabbed his hand, letting him haul her to her feet. She swayed a little as she regained her footing, but waived off his attempts to help her.

When they were younger, they had figured out that physical pain stopped Bella's episodes from escalating. They hadn't ever told anyone else, but when she was really bad Bella had made Jake do this countless times. The pain brought her back to herself.

They started walking back in the direction of his house – with Bella limping more than walking – but Bella stopped as they reached the edge of the trees. She sat down on a fallen tree and patted the spot next to her.

"What happened?" He asked.

"The Cullen's are vampires." Bella ignored his question.

He sucked in a breath before nodding. "How did you figure it out?"

She snorted and winced at the pain it shot through her chest. She probably had some broken ribs. "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out." She swallowed hard and feigned nonchalance. "Besides, I think Rosalie went kind of crazy when I got a papercut this morning." She winked at him. "Dead giveaway."

"What?" He snarled, jumping up. "Did she attack you?" He started pacing in front of her. "I'm gonna –."

"You're not going to do anything." She said calmly.

"Bella!"

"Jake!" She shook her head. "They are my friends."

"They are vampires." Jake stressed the word. "They want to kill you."

"Well, it's not like they'd be able to anyway." Bella said. She paused and gazed at the sky. "Actually, I wonder…"

"No wondering!" He said, waving his hands in the air.

"Jacob," Bella started. "You just beat the living shit out of me."

His eyes widened in protest, but she held up a hand.

"Because I asked you to." She said. "Because I needed you to." She tried to stand up again, but fell back down on the log with a groan. He took a step forward but stopped at the look she gave him. "I need you to be my friend and leave me alone about the Cullen's. Rosalie…" She trailed off. "Rosalie would never hurt me. No matter how much her instincts want her to."

"How can you know?" He asked.

She smiled, blood staining her teeth. "The same way I know that you won't." She shrugged. "Plus, I can take care of myself."

He ran a hand through his short hair and reluctantly chuckled. He looked at her a long time. "Okay."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not asking for your permission, dumbass." She finally stood up and took a few limping hops over to him. She grabbed his arm. "I'm asking for your support." She shook her head. "In whatever I decide."

He nodded, and they walked back towards the house together.

Bella healed fast. By the time they had watched a movie and eaten the pizza that Jake had ordered for them, Bella just had a few bruises by her cheekbone and on her stomach. She knew they would be gone within the hour too.

"I'd better go home." She said as they movie ended. Popcorn littered the floor and the couch they were sitting on. They had spent the last few minutes throwing popcorn at each other and trying to catch it in their mouths.

He walked outside with her and ran his fingertips on the good of Rosalie's car. "This Rosalie's?"

She nodded as she opened the door. "So try not to get your nasty fingerprints on it."

He looked offended. "Nasty?" He repeated. He laid down both hands on the hood and leaned forward to put his weight on them.

She rolled her eyes and jumped in the car, backing out before Jake could do anything else. She waved at him through the window as she sped off.

She sped out of La Push, finally able to really appreciate how powerful and fast the car was. Just a light touch on the gas had her going 70 on the winding road between the two towns, and she smiled as she pushed a little more.

She made it to Charlie's in record time, not surprised to see a silver Volvo parked in front. Charlie's car wasn't there, and Bella checked the time. He had told her he was going over to a buddy's house after work. He wouldn't be back for another couple of hours.

She parked the car in the driveway and stepped out. Edward and Alice both stepped out of the Volvo, and she waited for them. She glanced in the window of Rosalie's car to see if her bruises had gone, and noticed that they had vanished.

"Bella." Alice's face looked worried as she reached her.

"Alice." Bella said. "Edward." She raised an eyebrow. "Not that I don't love to see you again, but what brings you around?"

Edward frowned at her, glancing at Rosalie's car in confusion. "We heard…" He looked to Alice. "Well…" He looked back at Bella. "Aren't you the one who is supposed to be confused?"

"About what?" She asked, tilting her head.

Alice stared at her in silence. Edward looked back and forth between them, at a loss and looking for direction. They had probably come to her house as damage control – there to clean up whatever mess Rosalie had left Bella in. Bella felt the corner of her lip jump in amusement.

"We heard that Rosalie had gotten sick." Alice finally said. "And that she had left you at the car lot because she doesn't like to be sick in front of people."

"Yes." Bella nodded, ignoring how amusing it was that this was the best excuse that Alice could come up with. "And you came to pick up her car?"

"Absolutely." Alice smiled at her, but Bella could see a glint of something in her eyes. Edward was looking at Bella in confusion, apparently not understanding why she was making this so easy for them.

"But –." Edward was cut off with an elbow in the ribs. It would have been too fast for human eyes to catch, but Bella caught it out of the corner of her eye.

He cleared his throat. "But we also thought that we could do homework together." He finished.

"That would be lovely." Bella smiled genuinely at him. She waved them forward as she turned to go inside. "I need help with coming up with ideas for that project in Art, Alice."

Rosalie wasn't at school for the next week. Bella waited for her at their table in first period every day, but she never showed up to fill the empty seat.

Edward still shot her wary looks at school, and Alice didn't bother to hide her probing stare when she thought she wasn't looking.

She didn't get invited over to their house the next weekend.

She picked up her car from the dealership and it made life a lot easier for her. She started driving to school herself, and even found her way to the grocery store a few times.

Mike had asked again if Bella wanted to go with them to La Push, and Bella ended up saying yes. She didn't have anything else to do since the Cullen's were avoiding her, and she probably would have gone to the reservation to see Jake anyway. She called him to let him know that she was going to be at the beach – she doubted that she'd be able to stand being around Mike the whole time and wanted Jake there as a buffer.

"Hi, Bella!" Mike called out of his van as she walked out of her house on Saturday morning. She waved at him with a grimace that she tried to pull off as a smile and crawled into the very back where Angela was.

Bella gave her a genuine smile. "Hey, Angela."

"Do you like the beach, Bella?" Angela asked as they started driving. Jessica and Lauren were sitting in the middle section talking with their heads together, and Mike and Eric were in the front dancing badly to some hip hop music they had put on.

"Yeah." Bella nodded, watching the green trees fly by. "I actually go to La Push a lot – I have a good friend who lives there."

Angela nodded and after a few moments brought a book out of her bag and started reading. That was another thing Bella liked about her. She didn't force conversation.

"We're here!" Mike bellowed as they pulled into the small gravel parking lot at the beach. Bella rolled her eyes and followed Jessica out of the van.

"It looks great today." Mike was squinting at the beach.

"Yeah, boy!" Eric gave him a high five and they both started running towards the water, taking off their clothes as they went, until they were splashing into the water with just their swim trunks on.

"It must be freezing." Bella said, shaking her head.

"They're tough." Lauren turned her nose up at Bella and started pulling Jessica towards the fire pit that was set up not too far from them. There were logs surrounding it, and a lot of people used it for parties on the beach.

Angela pursed her lips. "I think they're just dumb."

Bella looked at her for a moment and then let a grin spread across her face. She linked her arm with Angela's and nodded her head, "I think you're right."

The boys came back not too long after they first splashed in. Mike sat as close as he could to the fire that Bella had started, and wrapped a blanket tight around his shoulders.

"Bella!"

She turned around and grinned. "Hi, Jake." She waved at him as he bounded over. Embry, Seth, and Leah were coming behind him. Bella remembered them from when she had been at the reservation as a kid. She waved them over.

Jake plopped down beside her. She gestured to him and looked at everyone else, "This is my friend Jake. He won't bite, even though he looks like he could."

He nudged her with his shoulder. "Shut up."

Embry, Seth, and Leah joined them a few seconds later, and they started making jokes about Mike and Eric.

"You know, the cold makes you shrink." Leah said to Mike. She winked at him, "_Everywhere_, if you know what I mean.

"It wasn't that cold!" Mike moaned. He stuck his face in his hands.

"So, are you guys, like, dating?" Jessica asked Bella and Jake a little later.

Bella blinked at her and laughed, "God, no."

"Hey!" Jake said. "I'm not that bad."

"That's disgusting." Bella said to Jessica. "It'd be like dating my brother."

Jessica made a face.

"Aren't you dating that Cullen anyway?" Lauren said, not even looking at her.

Bella choked on the water she had been sipping out of a bottle. "What?"

"She walks you to class." Lauren said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Everyone's talking about it."

Jacob and the rest of the wolves had gone still at the mention of the Cullen's. Jake was frowning into the fire in front of them, but the rest were staring hard at her. She avoided all of their stares and shook her head at Lauren, "I'm not dating anyone."

"Whatever you say." Lauren started picking at her nails.

An awkward silence descended on them until Mike jumped up. "Who wants hot dogs?" He ran off to the car, and Bella turned to Angela to ask her something about class. She could feel the hot stare of Jake on the side of her head, but she didn't turn to look at him.

When it was time to leave, Bella hung back as the rest of her friends started walking towards the van.

"What is it?" She turned to Jake and crossed her arms.

"Why are you hanging around the leeches?" Jake's lip curled.

"I like them." Bella said. "They're my friends."

"Bella –."

She raised her hand to cut him off. "No, Jake. We've had this conversation, and we're not having it again."

His nostrils flared. "I didn't know you were going to date one of them."

"I'm not dating anyone." Bella repeated herself.

He stared at her for a second and then turned around, stomping off down the beach.

"Don't worry about him." Leah said from where she was sitting on one of the logs. "It's an old prejudice our people have."

"I've noticed." Bella said as she watched him walk away. She looked at Leah and cocked her head, "You don't share it?"

"I think a lot of the rules we follow don't make a lot of sense." She said. "And the one about the Cullen's…" She shrugged. "It's just bullshit, Bella."

Bella snorted and ran a hand through her hair. "I wish your pack thought the same."

"Some do." Leah said. "But Jake… Billy has really gotten to him on that one."

Bella sighed. "Yeah." She looked over her shoulder. "I should probably go."

Leah stood up. "I'll go make sure he doesn't ruin any trees." She smiled at Bella and gave her a brief hug. "Come back soon."

"Will do." Bella said. She waved one more time as she walked back to the van.

As Bella settled into her seat and Mike started driving them back she turned to Angela. "What did Lauren mean when she said that everyone is talking about Rosalie walking me to class?" Bella whispered to her.

"Well," Angela said slowly. "It's… unusual." She went on at Bella's probing look. "The Cullen's don't usually interact with anyone, much less walk them to class."

"But we're just friends." Bella said. And they might not even be that anymore.

Angela shrugged. "People talk about everything, Bella. Don't let it get to you."

Bella smiled tightly at her and turned back to the window. It bothered her that people were reading so much into Rosalie's behavior. Why? She had stopped caring about the gossip teenagers always carried around with them a long time ago.

What made this so different? Bella shook off the thoughts swirling around in her head.

A few days later Bella showed up at Jake's house with pizza and a new video game that he had been talking about. When he opened the door he just stared for a few seconds, but as she held up the game and the food he started grinning and let her in.

They messed around with his old bikes that he had found once in a junk yard and started riding them around the reservation all afternoon.

"You want to take it home?" He asked as they were putting them away in his garage as the sun went down. They had been out riding them for hours, taking breaks to lay in the sun on the beach every now and then.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

He snorted. "I mean: Do you want to take one home?"

"Yes." She said, stroking the seat of the bike she had been riding. "But they're yours, Jake."

"I barely paid a dime for them." He rolled his eyes. "Besides, why do I need two?"

"Just in case you every find a girl who will go out with you." Bella shot at him.

"Oh, please." He grinned. "You know she'd be riding mine _all day_."

Bella gagged and shoved his chest. "God, you really are a dog."

He brought his hand to his chest and made a face. "How rude!"

She nudged him with her shoulder as they walked back to his house.

"Jacob!" A voice called from the house in front of them. They both looked up to see a pack of guys sitting around a fire. The tallest one, though Bella noticed that Jake was just as big, if not bigger than him, stood up to greet them.

"Sam." Bella said as they reached them. She glanced around and smiled at them. Embry, Paul, Seth, and Leah were seated around the fire. She gave them a wave.

"Bella." Sam nodded at her before turning his eyes to Jacob. "The council is having the annual bonfire tonight." He raised an eyebrow. "Or did you forget?"

Jake scratched his head. "I might have."

Embry snorted. "Too caught up with Bella, here?"

Bella shot him a look. "If anyone's too caught up with me here, it's Paul over there." She shot him a wink and laughed at his disgusted look. "Oh, I'm sorry, where you ogling at Jake instead?" She shook her head. "My mistake."

The group burst out laughing and Paul glared at her, his ears noticeably burning.

"Care to join us, Bella?" Seth asked. "It's always fun having you around."

"What would I be joining, exactly?" She asked, looking towards Jake.

He shrugged. "Just a big fire and a bunch of wolves fighting over who gets to patrol the beach this week."

"Sounds fun." She said.

Bella blinked as everyone started standing up and taking off their clothes. Realization dawned on her as she noticed Sam tying his shorts to a strap around his ankle. "Are we running there?" She asked excitedly.

"We don't own cars." Leah said. She winked at Bella and sauntered off into the shadows. Bella could hear her paws hit the ground as she shifted and started running.

Jake looked at her. "Race you there." He leapt into the air and when he reached the ground he was a giant red wolf.

Bella took off. One moment she was running on two feet, and the next she was racing after him on all fours. She let out a howl as she ran after him.

She could feel the other wolves running around her as she past them. Jake was just up ahead, and Bella took a leap towards a tree up ahead and used it as leverage to jump in front of him. She turned her head around to smile at him, her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth in delight.

She stayed behind Sam because he knew where they were going, even if she could have easily overtaken him.

She stopped when he stopped. They had arrived on one of the cliffs overlooking the beach, where a group of older people sat around a fire. Sam stayed in the shadows to change back into his clothes, and Bella hung back to wait for Jacob. She grinned as his frowning face came into the light. "Beat you." She whispered to him as he got dressed.

They walked towards the council and Bella stuck her hands in her pockets as they noticed her. Billy was smiling at her, but the others were looking at her curiously. "Who is this?" One man on the left asked.

"Bella." Jake stepped forward protectively.

"Surely you remember, Joseph." Billy said. "Bella is the Nagual we met decades ago."

The group shifted and murmured to one another.

The man's eyes widened. "Ah." He squinted at her. "You have not changed at all."

Bella smiled at him. "I could say the same for you."

"A charmer." The man smiled. "I remember better now. Come, Bella, join us."

They all sat down on the logs that had been carried over to the fire.

"What's a Na – thing, exactly?" Seth whispered to her from where he sat on her left.

"Nagual." She sounded out for him. "It's in the legends." She raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember?"

He looked sheepish. "No one can possibly know all of them."

Jake looked around Bella towards Seth. "It's in the old legends, Seth. You wouldn't have heard them at any high school camping trip."

"Well?" Seth asked, looking between them both.

"My dad brought me to Billy when he realized that I was… different." Bella said. "Billy, who does seem to know every tribal legend," She shot Seth a look, "said that I was a Nagual – an old, rare creature that could turn into any animal at any time."

"Is it true?"

She shrugged. "I haven't heard a better answer yet."

"What else do the legends say?" Seth asked.

"I'm immortal." Bella said. "Which is true."

"Great hearing." Jake added. "Like a cat's."

"Eyesight like one too." Leah added from Seth's left.

"Strength?" Seth asked.

"Stronger than you, I bet." She nudged his shoulder.

"So, you're like the better version of us?" He laughed.

Bella smiled, but didn't say anything. Seth raised his eyebrows at them.

Jake spoke up. "Bella can get very – angry."

"We shift when we're angry." Seth pointed out. "Do you do that?"

"Sort of." Bella looked into the fire in front of them. "But not into anything that I would like to." At Seth's confused look, she went on. "I don't even know what to call what I shift into except – me." She ran a hand through her hair. "It is the form my instincts tell me to take when I am feeling threatened or angry or hurt. It is the form that can protect me from anything."

"What is it?" Seth asked, his voice quiet.

Bella looked up at the sky. "It's probably a mix between a hungry vampire, an angry werewolf, and a dragon on a rampage." She smiled so that it didn't sound so scary, but it looked like he got the message.

"Oh." Seth said. He was quiet for a few moments. "How often do you turn into that?"

"More often than I'd like." She said. They didn't mention it again after that.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **

Another chapter! In case anyone wondered, I basically made Bella into a new species based off of some actual legends I found. So, she's completely separate from the Quileute shifters and doesn't smell as terrible to vampires as they do. That's why the Cullen's haven't caught on to everything yet. YET.

I don't know about you guys, but I really imagine Rosalie as being so conflicted about her emotions towards Bella that her mood just swings RAPIDLY all the time. I love it.

And we're coming up on some angsty content so just remember that things WILL get better!

Chapter 4

Bella finally saw Rosalie again the next week. She walked into her class on Monday and saw Rosalie sitting at their table, examining her nails and avoiding her gaze.

"Hi." Bella said as soon as she sat down. "Where have you been?" She didn't mean to sound as accusatory as she did, but the glare Rosalie sent her way made it worth it.

"Sick." Rosalie's voice was like ice.

"With what?" Bella asked, pushing down the pang of _something _she felt at being spoken to that way from Rosalie. "Chicken pocks? Lung cancer? A bad case of being a total bitch and ignoring me for a week?"

Rosalie stared at her.

Bella scoffed and looked away. She clenched her jaw, debating whether or not to say what she wanted to say.

"You wanted me to be around you?"

The odd question caused Bella to turn in confusion to Rosalie. "What?"

"You weren't… afraid?" Rosalie had looked down at her hands and was trying, unsuccessfully, to look like she didn't care how Bella responded.

"I don't care that –" Bella cut herself off. Rosalie had stiffened beside her and didn't look to be breathing.

The teacher started talking before Bella could play it off like she was going to say something normal, and she reluctantly pretended to pay attention to the teacher as her whole body became attuned to Rosalie.

She finally started breathing about halfway through the class period, and Bella tried to look like she was engrossed with putting away her things as Rosalie moved for the first time as the bell rang. Bella made a note to tell her that she really needed to start playing human better.

Bella stood up and caught her breath. Rosalie was standing right in front of her, her dark gold eyes gazing at her.

"What were you saying?" Rosalie asked, her tone sharp.

"I was saying that I don't care that you're super weird, Rosalie." Bella said, shoving her way past and walking towards the door. "You and your family."

Rosalie caught up with her and held open the door as they walked out. "Weird?"

Bella shot her a look. "I'm not an idiot."

Rosalie just looked at her.

Bella rolled her eyes and lowered her voice so that no one around them could hear. "You and your entire _adopted _family all have the same color eyes, the same pale skin, and the same inhuman beauty." She looked ahead as they walked down the hall. "You don't move sometimes – it's like you turn into stone."

Rosalie put a hand on Bella's arm and stopped them. "Isabella."

Bella turned toward her and leaned back against the lockers that were right behind her, her heart skipping innumerable beats at the sound of her name on Rosalie's lips. They stared at each other. The bell rang, and Bella noticed that the last of the students milling about the hallway scampered into classrooms, leaving the two of them alone.

"What are you saying?" Rosalie asked quietly. She had a dangerous look in her eyes.

Bella shrugged. "I'm not saying anything." She stepped forward into Rosalie's personal space and her lip twitched at the way Rosalie reacted. Bella heard her breath catch in her lungs and she stopped moving.

"Just like that." Bella whispered as she reached a hand up and ran the back of a finger down Rosalie's cheek. "You look like a statue of Aphrodite, taken out of your temple and put in some gross high school hallway." Bella swallowed hard and looked to the side. "I just – you should know –." She sighed and closed her eyes. "You're different. Your whole family is different and I don't care."

She turned and started walking towards her class. She turned her head and said quietly, "I'm no stranger to different."

The itch to shift had gotten easier to deal with the longer she hung around the Cullen's, but it was still very annoying for Bella. It wasn't so bad when she was around Jake for a long time – Bella guessed that even her biology knew that he could never be a threat. Like Seth had said – she was a better version of the wolves. She knew from play-fighting with Jacob that she could take on at least a couple wolves at one time and come out with barely a scratch.

But with the Cullen's it was different. Maybe vampires posed a better threat to her than wolves, she wasn't sure, but she did know that the itch in her muscles wasn't going away. She was with at least one of them at school all day, and then afterwards Alice and Edward insisted on following her home where they would stay until her dad got home for dinner. She had started going out as soon as her dad had gone to sleep, and she had to be out half the night before she felt it was safe to go to bed herself.

She was afraid that one day she would lose control. She shifted as much as possible in her free time to keep herself from hurting them.

One afternoon Bella sat at the dining room table with Alice, doing the math homework in front of her. She barely had to glance at it before scribbling out an answer, and she only dared do it so fast because Alice was looking off into the distance with a glazed look on her face.

"Want to go shopping this weekend?" She asked, turning her head so fast it was a blur. Ever since Bella had told Rosalie about her knowing they were 'different', Alice hadn't felt the need to hide all of her vampire-ness around Bella anymore.

Bella groaned and made a face.

"Rosalie is coming too!" Alice said, her eyes wide and pleading.

Bella pursed her lips and laid her chin on her fist. "What does this entail, exactly?"

"We can go to Seattle! It's only two hours away, and if Rose drives we'll get there in one. I'll take you to all of my favorite stores and buy you so many clothes, and you can pick wherever you want to eat for dinner – my treat!" She bounced up and down in her seat. "Please say yes."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"Yes!" Alice stood up and twirled around in a circle. "I have to call Rose and tell her!"

"Why?" Bella asked, turning back to her homework and writing down the answers to the questions she had left.

"She'll be very interested to know that as soon as I mentioned her name, you were _definitely_ going to say yes." Alice breathed out as she pushed the numbers on her phone. "Because she'll be excited!" She said louder this time, with a bright smile before bouncing out of the house.

Bella frowned at the door that Alice had just walked through. How did Alice know that Bella had been thinking about ways to politely decline her invitation until Rosalie's name came up?

Alice came back in a few seconds later and sat down with a happy sigh. "This is going to be great, Bella." She had a glint in her eye as she said, "I just know it."

Charlie's cruiser pulled into the driveway. Bella stood up and started clearing the table. He had called and asked if she wanted to get some take-away tonight, and she had gladly agreed. The fridge was sparse and there wasn't much besides half a box of pasta in the cupboards.

"Hi, Charlie!" Alice said as he walked in.

Charlie's wrinkled face lit up as he saw her. "Alice!" He sat the bags of food down on the table and gave her a hug. "So good to see you."

She giggled. "You see me almost every day, Charlie."

"But I forget, you know!" He tapped his head with his finger and shook his head with a wry smile "It's not what it used to be." He motioned down to the food. "You want to stay for dinner? I'm sure we could share."

"Oh, no thank you." She shook her head and started gathering up her things. "Esme will be terribly upset with me if I miss dinner tonight."

"Alright, then." Charlie slowly sat down in a chair. "Tell Esme and Carlisle I send my regards."

"Absolutely." Alice said. She danced around the table to give Bella a kiss on the cheek before running out the door. "Bye, Bella!"

Charlie chuckled and started getting out the styrofoam boxes with food in them.

"How was work, dad?" Bella asked.

"Same old, same old." Charlie said, digging into his Thai noodles.

Bella paused spinning her noodles around her fork as Charlie let out a hacking cough. He raised up his arm to cover his mouth, but it sounded awful. She got up to grab him a cup of water and crouched down next to him.

"Dad?" She asked as he finally stopped. "What's that about?"

He waved her off. "Oh, it's nothing. The weather's changing and my cough is back."

She raised an eyebrow. "That didn't really sound like allergies."

"I'm old, Bells." He said, looking at her with a small smile. "There are lots of problems in this old body."

She stared at him for a minute to make sure he was fine before going back to her seat. "Have you seen Carlisle about it?"

"Don't wanna bother him." He said.

"I'll bother him for you." She stated.

"Bells."

"Dad."

He sighed with a rueful smile and waved his fork at her. "You're just like your mother."

On Saturday, Bella was waiting on the front steps as Rosalie's red BMW pulled up to the house. The smile that overtook her face was completely involuntary as a blonde head emerged from the car as Rosalie stepped out. She raised an eyebrow at Bella. "Coming?"

Bella stood up and bounded down the steps to stand beside Rosalie. "Aphrodite."

Rosalie rolled her eyes at the name and pulled her seat back so Bella could get in the back. "Get in."

Bella slipped in and smiled at Alice who was grinning at her from the passenger seat. She started literally bouncing up and down. "This is going to be so much fun!" Alice clapped her hands together excitedly.

"If you don't calm down, I'm going to throw you out of the car." Rosalie said. She glanced at Bella in the rearview mirror before backing out of the driveway and speeding down the road.

"Do you ever get speeding tickets?" Bella leaned forward to ask. Both of them glanced at her in confusion. "You're always going at least 15 over." She said. "You have to have been pulled over at some point."

"Maybe a few times." Rosalie said. "But never a ticket." She smirked.

"We have a certain… effect on people." Alice said. "I'm sure you've noticed?"

"What, that you're almost _too _beautiful to look at?" Bella asked. "Yeah, I think I've noticed."

"You're one to talk." Rosalie muttered under her breath, and both Bella and Alice stared at her.

"What?" Rosalie asked.

"Nothing." Alice grinned and looked away. She started talking about the shops she was going to introduce Bella too, and Bella looked out the window at the trees flashing past.

"Bella?" Alice asked. Bell looked up at her name. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Bella said, surprised.

"Why is Charlie so old?"

Bella blinked. She tried to remember the story Renee had come up with when they had to deal with questions from her doctors. "Um, well." Bella said, looking back out of the window. "They tried to have a child for a long time, but they were finally told that it wasn't ever going to happen." Bella's stomach was sinking as she spoke and she realized that she didn't like lying to them. "They tried artificial methods – everything the doctors mentioned – but nothing ever happened until BOOM, surprise, you have a baby at 55."

"It's commendable of them," Rosalie said after a moment, "to try for so long."

Bella felt a pang of guilt. She debated coming clean for a second before resigning to the fact that the she hadn't even told the Cullen's that she knew they were vampires. It wasn't time for them to find out she was a supernatural weirdo too.

"What about your mom?" Alice asked, probing even further. "Where is she? Didn't you live with her before coming to Forks?"

Bella took a deep breath and nodded. "She died this summer."

Bella saw Rosalie's hands clench the steering wheel tighter.

"Oh, Bella." Alice reached back and grabbed her hand. "I'm so sorry."

Bella met Rosalie's eyes in the rearview mirror and saw something there that she tucked away in her mind to think about later. "She was sick. We were expecting it."

"Still." Alice said, looking at her with concern.

"I'm fine, Alice." Bella said. "I had years to come to terms with the fact that she was going to die soon. Honestly, it happened later than I thought it would. We got a lot of time." _Not enough. _

The car was silent for a few miles after that, and Bella was grateful. She really didn't want to talk about it.

Seattle was big, Bella decided as they drove through the city streets. Rosalie was a terrifying driver and traffic was horrible, but after a while Alice squealed and pointed to a store they were coming up on. Rosalie slid her car into a parking space right in front of the building, ignoring the honking car that she had cut off.

Rosalie was out of the door and reaching back for her before she could blink, and Bella grabbed Rosalie's outstretched hand. They walked around the car and into the store, Alice still squealing, and Bella tried to ignore the warm feeling that was running through her body. She tried – and failed – to ignore the tingling feelings she would get when Rosalie's arm brushed her own.

Bella hated shopping, she really did. She tried to put on a brave face for Alice, because she could see how happy their day was making her, but inside she was wilting by the minute. The only thing that got her through it was the look on Rosalie's face when Bella caught her staring at her, and the hand that kept brushing itself against her skin. She tried very hard to calm her racing heart when Rosalie looked at her in that surprisingly open and warm way she did sometimes, but the small smile on Rosalie's lips told her that it wasn't working.

"Are you hungry?" Rosalie asked into her ear as they were walking out of the sixth store.

"Um." Bella frowned. "Not really."

"Are you sure?" Rosalie looked concerned.

Bella shrugged. "I could do with some coffee, but I'm not hungry at all." She had eaten breakfast, but her appetite fluctuated day-by-day. Some days she was as ravenous as Jake, and others she didn't want to eat anything. Bella was thankful that this was one of those days so that she wouldn't have to put Alice and Rosalie through pretending to eat human food.

Alice made a face. "How do you drink that stuff?"

"It's tasty." Bella said, unconsciously leaning slightly to the left and towards Rosalie. Alice's eyes flashed between them and she grinned.

Alice laughed quietly before saying in a louder voice, "Is this place okay?" She was motioning toward a little shop they were in front of. "For your hot bean juice?"

Bella snorted and led the way inside. She looked around the café and noticed that most of the people inside had looked up at the door opening and had not looked away. But while Bella had assumed that the people doing this all day had been looking at the two Cullen's with her, she noticed in surprise that they were actually staring at _her_.

Bella turned to Rosalie. "Why does everyone stare at us?" She noticed Alice faltered a step at her question.

Rosalie turned to glare at the people in the room, who quickly looked away. She turned back to Bella and said, "Ignore them Bella. They are beneath you."

Alice laughed and tapped Bella's nose with her finger before dancing up to the counter. "What do you want?" She called back as she leant on the counter.

Bella huffed and walked up to the counter to order her coffee.

Alice and Rosalie bought her entirely too many clothes. They had to stop by the car three times in the first couple of hours because they couldn't carry all of the bags. Bella tried to stop them, but they wouldn't hear any of it.

She was exhausted by the time afternoon rolled around, and Rosalie finally stopped Alice as they were walking out of a store.

"I think that might be enough for today." Rosalie said.

Bella sighed in relief as they paused in front of the store. Alice turned around and pouted at them.

"But!" Alice widened her eyes and stuck out her lip. "We just got started!"

"We've been dragging Bella around the city for five hours." Rosalie raised an eyebrow. "I think it's time to take her home."

Alice stomped her feet all the way to the car, but Bella smiled gratefully at Rosalie. Rosalie just rolled her eyes and slammed her car door. She didn't look back at Bella the rest of the ride home.

"How has it been lately?" Jake asked her. They were sitting in Charlie's living room watching a movie and eating pizza. Charlie had gone to bed a few hours before.

Bella raised an eyebrow at him.

He rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean."

Bella took a bite of pizza and chewed slowly. "It's manageable."

"But?"

Bella frowned in thought, "You know that feeling you get when you really need or want to shift?"

"Yeah." Jake nodded.

"I feel that way." Bella said, looking out of the window in front of them. "_All _the time."

"Is it the leeches?" Jake curled his lip as he said the word.

"I wish you wouldn't call them that." She said with a look.

"That's what they are." He shrugged.

"Whatever." Bella took another bite of pizza.

"So?" Jake asked.

"So, what?"

He groaned. "Are they making it worse?"

She didn't answer.

"So, yes." Jake shook his head. "You need to stop spending time with them."

"I don't get it." Bella said in frustration. "Why can I spend as much time with you as I want and not feel a thing, but after spending an hour with one of the Cullen's I'm about to jump out of my skin?"

"You know I'm not going to hurt you –."

"But it's not just you!" Bella said. "That night at the bonfire, I didn't feel a thing. Whenever we see Embry or Leah at the reservation, I don't feel a thing."

Jake frowned. "Maybe you just _know_ –."

"It's more than just knowing, Jake." Bella said. "I _know _that Alice or Edward would never hurt me." She shook her head. "It has to be something biological."

"Like what?" Jake asked.

"No fucking clue." She took another bite.

There was silence as they watched the movie for a few minutes.

Jake cleared his throat. "Do you like her?"

Bella feigned ignorance. "Who?"

"Rosalie." Jake said, not looking at her. "The blonde leech you mention all the time. The one who walks you to class. The one they mentioned at the bonfire."

Bella busied herself with pulling her hair up into a bun. She tried to ignore the way Jake was staring at her. "What does it even mean to 'like' someone? It's hard to imagine Aphrodite even liking anyone at all."

He huffed and stood up, grabbing the empty pizza box and taking it into the kitchen.

Bella leaned her head back on the couch cushion and closed her eyes with a groan. She got up and followed him into the kitchen.

"Why do you hate them so much?" She asked. He was standing with his back to her across the room, leaning against the counter with both hands.

"They're killers, Bella." He said.

"We aren't any different, then." She said quietly. "You might be clean, Jake, but some of us can't wash off the blood on our hands."

He turned around and pointed his finger at her. "It's different!" He walked forward a few steps. "You didn't mean to do what you did."

"You think they do?" She asked. "Do you think they wake up every day and decide that they are going to want to suck all the blood out of every human they see?" She shook her head. "They can't stop that urge any more than you or I could stop shifting into giant animals all the time!"

"You can't really compare shifting into a wolf and wanting to kill everyone you meet, can you?" Jake asked sardonically.

"Have you forgotten what Sam did to Emily?" Bella asked, referring to the leader of Jake's pack who had accidentally marred his fiancé with horrible scars during an argument. "What about what I have done?" She swallowed down the hard lump in her throat. "We're all the same here, Jake."

He was shaking really hard by now, and started pacing back and forth. "You can't _be _with one of them, Bella!"

"I haven't said anything about _being _with anyone." She said angrily. "But even if I was going to –," she broke off and waved her hand around, "– _be _with anyone, I wouldn't need your permission!"

"They're the enemy!" Jake roared at her. "They are the bad guys!"

Bella scoffed. "There are no 'bad guys,' Jake." She took another step forward, "What makes you and your pack the 'good ones,' huh? What makes you so spotless and innocent?" She shook her head. "Nothing. It's a delusion your tribe has given you."

Jake started shaking his head.

"They are good people." She said.

"They are not people!" Jake swung his fist into the kitchen wall. He pulled it out as the wall crumpled around it, leaving a giant hole. "They're not even alive!" He was yelling loudly, shaking even harder than before.

Bella stared at the hole he had just made in the wall. "Get out of here before you ruin the whole damn kitchen, Jacob."

Jake ran out of the room, out the front door, and Bella could see him shift as soon as his feet hit the ground. He ran off into the woods faster than any human could see.

Bella slumped into one of the dining chairs and put her face in her hands. She ran her knuckles across her forehead and sighed.

A minute later a car pulled up in the driveway and Bella looked up with a frown. It was nearly midnight – way too late for Alice or Edward to decide to pop by, and those were the only other people who had ever been in her house.

The door slammed and a second later Rosalie was opening the door.

Bella blinked at her. She was standing in the doorway, frozen in place with a dangerous look on her face. Her eyes went from the giant hole in the wall to Bella sitting in the chair. "_What._" Bella shivered at her voice. It was pure ice. "_Happened._"

Bella swallowed and gestured lamely to the hole. "An accident?"

Rosalie glared at her and walked to her side. She knelt down beside Bella and started roaming her eyes all over her. Her fingertips ran lightly down Bella's arm. "Are you alright?"

Bella found that breathing was really difficult when Rosalie was this close and _touching _her. She could smell her breath – a sweet scent that made her dizzy – and feel it ghosting across her face as Rosalie leaned closer to look in her eyes.

"Fine." Bella choked out. "I'm fine. It's just…" She looked away from Rosalie's eyes and tried to clear her head so that she could speak coherently. "Jake and I had an argument."

"That _dog _did this?" Rosalie stiffened into stone.

Bella closed her eyes. "I really wish you would use better language when talking about each other."

A low growl started up in Rosalie's chest and Bella's eyes widened. "Hey, he didn't hurt me." She reached up and her hand hovered over Rosalie's face. "He punched a wall because I made him angry. It's kind of normal behavior for us, honestly."

Rosalie's nostrils flared and before Bella could blink they were up in her room, and Rosalie was setting her down on the bed.

"Oh." Bella said, blinking up at Rosalie who was tearing through her drawers and throwing clothes at Bella. She grabbed the towel off the wall and thrust it at Bella. "Shower." She growled at her before going to open the window. "You smell like wet dog."

Bella stared at her for a few seconds with her mouth open. She raised her eyebrows and gathered the clothes and towel and went into the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror for a few seconds before leaning her hands against the sink with her head down. She let out a loud sigh before turning on the shower and getting in.

Rosalie was standing in the same spot when Bella walked back in the room. She ran the towel through her hair before throwing it on her desk chair. Bella looked at Rosalie uncertainly before taking a few steps toward her.

"So…" Bella said.

Rosalie turned around and flashed to Bella's side. She tried not to jump out of her skin, but it was going to take some time to get used to how fast she was moving.

Rosalie leaned forward and ran her nose along Bella's neck. Bella's breath caught in her throat and she tried not to move as Rosalie took a deep breath.

"Better." Rosalie said as she leaned back.

"Okay." Bella said. She looked around the room. "Do you want to – um – sit?" She gestured to the bed.

Rosalie tilted her head to the side and roamed her eyes across Bella's face as if searching for something. "I am making you uncomfortable." She frowned slightly and Bella had to put her hands behind her back to stop herself from reaching up and rubbing away the crease between her eyes.

"No!" Bella said as Rosalie took a step backward. She stepped forward and tried to find words to explain how she was feeling. "I'm just… I don't know how… This is just new – for me."

"What is new?" Rosalie asked.

"This." Bella said, hoping that Rosalie wasn't going to make her spell it out for her.

Rosalie's lip twitched and she reached a hand up to twirl a strand of Bella's hair around her finger. "And what is 'this,' exactly?"

"Don't make me say it." Bella whispered as Rosalie took a step forward. They were inches apart, and Bella could feel the coolness radiating off of Rosalie's skin.

"_Isabella_." Rosalie breathed as she moved a few inches closer. Their faces were almost touching.

"I…" Bella said. She was looking at Rosalie's lips.

Bella stopped moving.

A cold tingle ran up her spine and she suddenly noticed that her canines were growing. She felt a warmth growing in her stomach and when she looked up into Rosalie's eyes, she realized that she wanted nothing more than to lean forward sink her teeth into –.

Bella stumbled backwards and turned away, putting one hand to her mouth and clenching the other into a trembling fist.

"Bella –." Rosalie said.

"You should go." Bella tried in vain to keep her voice from trembling. "I'll – I'll see you tomorrow."

There was a faint rush of air, and a second later Bella turned back to find the room empty.

She couldn't get it to stop. Bella leaned her head against the wall and hit her fists against it. "No!" She groaned out.

She stumbled down the stairs, barely remembering to grab her keys, before running outside and into her car. The drive to Jake's was blurry, and she almost ran off the road a few times. Her head was hazy and all her instincts were telling her to do was turn the car around and go find a Cullen and _bite _–.

Bella growled and pushed the gas pedal harder.

She honked her horn as soon as she got to Jake's house. She didn't give a thought to how she was probably waking Billy up too.

"Jake!" She yelled as she slammed her car door. A few seconds later he stumbled out of his house, shirtless and squinting at her.

"Bella?" He rubbed at his eyes. They widened as he caught her appearance and he quickly jumped down from the porch and landed near her. "Do you need…?"

Bella answered by sprinting into the woods behind his house and hoping he would follow. She fell against a tree and felt the bark break and splinter under her fingertips. She rubbed her forehead into it and growled.

"Bella." Jake said.

She turned and launched herself at him. She knocked him over and snarled over him. He quickly threw her off and before she could attack again his giant fist had made contact with her face and she was flying into the base of a tree.

She picked herself up and threw herself at him again. She had enough sense to hold back her strength – she didn't actually want to hurt him – but she needed to fight _something_ and the pain brought her back to life.

Jake's fist made contact with her face again and she felt her jaw pop. He hit her again and again in the same spot, and before long she was seeing stars and spitting out blood and broken teeth.

She got up again and growled at him. His eyes were determined and hard, not full of tears like the last time. He understood what she needed.

So he kept going until Bella was surrounded by nothing but darkness.

She woke up with a gasp, sitting up and immediately letting out a groan. She held her jaw in her hands and looked up at Jake. He was sitting a few feet away.

"Sorry about that." He said quietly.

"Don't apologize." She said after she had worked her jaw a little bit. "Damn, this thing is shattered."

"Stop talking, then." He stood up and offered her a hand. "Want to go get breakfast?"

She took his hand and looked down at herself. Her clothes were torn and mud-caked, and she still had bruises covering her skin. "What will the locals think?"

Jake snorted. "We'll tell them you got into a crash on the bike."

She nodded. "Good plan."

They walked back to Jake's house and started walking down the street towards the town.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Bella ended up buying twelve cheeseburgers once they got to the only restaurant on the reservation – eight for Jake and four for herself – even thought it was breakfast and the waitress kept looking at her strangely. It probably had something to do with the dirt and bruises.

"I'll come fix the hole this afternoon." He said once they were done eating. "Sorry about that, by the way."

She shrugged.

"What happened after I left?" Jake asked quietly.

"Rosalie came over." Bella said.

"And?" Jake asked.

"I realized that I wanted to…" Bella trailed off.

Jake waited, looking at her expectantly.

"Hurt her." She whispered. "I realized I wanted to hurt her."

Jake didn't say anything and just pushed the rest of his milkshake over to her side of the table.

Bella collapsed onto her bed that night and slept well on into the next morning. It was a Saturday, so she didn't have to worry about making up excuses about missing school. Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table when she finally made her way downstairs.

"Hi, Dad." She said as she sat down next to him.

"Hey, kiddo." He said, looking her over. "You doin' alright?"

She sighed. "Not really."

He nodded and pushed a cup of coffee toward her.

They sat in silence and drank their coffee, and Bella had never been more thankful that Charlie wasn't a talker.

Bella didn't do much that day or the next, just laid around and slept almost the whole 48 hours. She got up to eat a few times, but thankfully Charlie let her be.

She was nervous about going back to school as she got ready on Monday morning, and she realized her hands where shaking as she was getting dressed. She sat down heavily on her bed and put her head in her hands.

She almost hurt Rosalie. The thought was going around and around her head. She looked down at her shaking hands and clenched them into fists. "_No_." She shook her head furiously and pushed her hands over her eyes.

It made her want to be sick. She got up and started pacing back and forth across her room. She couldn't let that happen again. She _couldn't_. But she also couldn't just pack up and leave. She knew she was putting the Cullen's at risk, but Bella couldn't leave her father alone. And, as much as Bella didn't want to admit it, she didn't think she _could _leave. Just the thought of leaving the Cullen's – leaving Rosalie – was enough to get her choking for her next breath and clutching her chest.

That wasn't an option. She would have to find something else to do.

Bella was late to school, and she only made it to her second period class right before the bell rang. She sat down at her usual spot beside Emmett, noticing that he had not looked up at her arrival, and laid her bag at her feet.

"Hey." Bella said.

"Bella." Emmett said. He wasn't looking at her.

She opened her mouth to say something else, but the teacher interrupted her as she started class. Bella waited impatiently for class to end, and when the bell rang she sighed with relief.

"So –." She turned to Emmett, but stopped speaking when she noticed that he was gone. He had jumped up almost before the bell had sounded and was out the door almost before Bella could turn her head toward him.

The same thing happened in her other classes. Alice and Jasper had started sitting across the room from their usual table, and even Edward was trying not to speak to her. He just kept shooting her sympathetic looks every now and then, but shook his head when she asked why they were ignoring her.

Her classes with Rosalie were the worst. She had missed first period, but Bella had two other classes with her.

When Bella walked into Art, her breath caught at the sight of Rosalie, still as a statue and her face as hard as stone. Alice was sitting in Bella's usual spot, so Bella sat down in Alice's.

"Hi." Bella said to them both. Alice gave her a nod, but got out her sketch pad to start doodling. Rosalie didn't move at all.

When the class ended, Bella jumped out of her seat and cornered Rosalie before she could rush out of the room. Rosalie looked at her with eyes like ice, and before Bella could say anything, Alice had grabbed her arm and pulled her far enough away so that Rosalie could rush past.

"Alice!" Bella rounded on her.

"No, Bella." Alice said. "Leave her alone." She made to leave the room, but turned her head slightly at the doorway. "I think you've made yourself perfectly clear, and now you need to leave it be." Alice turned around and walked back towards her a few steps with a pleading look on her face. "We still love you, Bella. Just give us all some space for a while, and then things can go back to normal. Rosalie doesn't want to talk right now."

"But –." Bella trailed off as Alice spun around and walked out of the room. She sat down in the chair nearest to her and put her hand over her mouth. It was trembling, and she clenched her eyes shut as she tried to calm her body down.

She felt her stomach twisting and turning on itself as bile rose up her throat. Rosalie thought she didn't want her. Rosalie didn't want to talk to her. She gasped for air and curled in on herself, placing her hands on the desk closest to her. There was a dull pain radiating throughout her body. It was different from the usual burning itch that brought on a shift – it was more like her body was turning on her, like it was rebelling against this new information.

Bella got up and walked out of school. She got in her car and drove back home, even though she still had two more class periods. Bella stumbled out of her car as soon as it was parked in her driveway, took off towards the woods beside the house, and let out a loud roar as she shifted.

Bella got worse.

As the days went on and the Cullen's still didn't talk to her, Bella stopped sleeping. She ran through the forest, running into trees and tripping over boulders as she tried to escape the pain gnawing at her. She ran deep enough into the forest one night that she met one of the wolves, and as whoever it was tried to run after her, she turned around with a growl and bared her teeth. The wolf shrunk back into the shadows with a whimper and Bella turned back to keep running. She didn't know what she was trying to find.

It felt more like she was trying to get away.

Bella woke up shivering one morning, after finally getting a few hours of sleep, and realized that she was drenched in sweat. Her skin felt like it was on fire. It took her a few minutes to have the energy to step out of bed, wrap a blanket around herself, and go downstairs.

"Hey, Dad?" She croaked as she reached the kitchen.

"Yeah?" He replied from where he was at the kitchen table. He glanced at her and then did a double take. "What's wrong, Bells?"

"I'm sick." Bella wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders. "Can you call the school?"

"Sure, sure." He stood up and walked over. He raised his arm as if to touch her, but ended up giving her an awkward pat on the arm. "Anything you need? Do you need to go see a doctor?"

Bella shook her head. "I'm just going to try and sleep it off." She turned around to make her way up the stairs.

"Call if you need anything." He said as she took step after trembling step up the stairs. She took a break at the top of the landing and leaned against the wall breathing hard.

She collapsed back onto her bed and wrapped herself in her blankets. They were still damp from the few hours she had slept before, but she barely paid it any mind as she closed her eyes.

Bella woke up multiple times throughout the day, each time feeling worse than the last. She picked up her phone, barely managing to hang on to it, and tried to find Jake's name in her contacts through blurry eyes.

"Bella!" Jake called through the phone as soon as he answered. "You wanna come hang out? We're making some juicy steak tonight!"

"Jake." She whispered, but before she could say anything else she was thrown into a coughing fit.

"Bella?" Jake's voice was concerned now. "What's wrong?"

"I don't – I don't know." She answered. "I can't –." She couldn't remember what she wanted to say.

"Hold on, Bella." Jake said. She heard a slamming door and an engine starting through the phone. "I'll be right there."

Bella opened her eyes and say a blurry figure standing over her.

"Bella!" Jake's voice was faint, and she couldn't seem to focus on him. She felt herself being lifted up, and she recoiled against the heat of his skin.

"Hot." She murmured as her vision went black again.

She woke up the next time to new voices talking around her.

"There's gotta be something in the legends, Billy."

A big sigh. "Are you sure it's not just some sickness?"

"Does that look like the flu to you?" Bella couldn't open her eyes. "She's never had so much as a cold all her life."

Billy's wheelchair squeaked as he rolled toward her. "Her immune system has always been impeccable."

"Well obviously not right now!" Jake was shouting. "There's something wrong!"

"Calm down, Jacob." A female's voice sounded faintly from across the room. Bella tried to move her head, but that wasn't working either. She drifted in and out of consciousness as the voices argued some more.

"Hold on." Billy said softly. "Has Bella… met someone?"

Everyone was quiet. "What do you mean?" Jake asked.

"Is she seeing anyone?" Billy asked more urgently this time. "Romantically."

Jake growled. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"So she is?" Billy asked.

"No!" Jake said furiously.

"Jacob." Billy said. "Think. I've just remembered that I heard a story – a long, long time ago – about a Nagual who had died."

"For what reason?" The female voice sounded like Leah.

There was a pause. "Their mate had rejected them." Billy said softly.

Jake growled again. "So, it's the leech's fault?" A loud crash sounded.

"Leech?" A deep voice asked from the other end of the room

"Bella's seeing a Cullen?" Billy asked, more hesitantly this time.

"No!" Jake said. "I told you, she's not seeing anyone!"

"But she intends to?"

Jake didn't say anything.

"No matter who it is," Billy said after a few moments. "If Bella doesn't get some sort of – acceptance – from them soon, she will die."

"What needs to happen?" Leah asked. "We can't just call them up, explain that Bella is a supernatural creature mated to one of them, and that we need them to come here – in enemy territory – immediately to save her life." She gave a crazed laugh. "Right?"

There was silence for a few minutes.

"Fine." Jake growled. She heard his loud stomps coming toward her. She finally started to be more aware of where she was – if she had to guess she was on his couch.

"What are you doing?" Billy asked.

"I'm taking her home."

"Jake." Leah said. "No matter your prejudices, this is Bella's life –."

"I know!" Jake snarled. "I'm taking her home and then I'm going to call the stupid leech. I'll tell her that Bella is sick and was asking for her. That's it."

"Be quick, Jake." Billy said.

Bella drifted out of consciousness again.

She woke up to a cold hand on her head.

"Bella?" Bella felt her trembling slow as she registered Rosalie's voice. She blinked her eyes open to see her beautiful, concerned face hovering over her.

"Bella." Rosalie said softly. She had one hand on Bella's head while the other was resting on the bed beside Bella. "Are you alright?"

Bella opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She resorted to faintly shaking her head as she closed her eyes against the pain it caused her.

"Okay." Rosalie breathed. "How long have you been like this? Have you seen a doctor? We need to go see my father immediately –."

Bella tried to make her stop talking by reaching up and touching her face. She shook her head again and tugged on Rosalie's arm.

"What?" Rosalie looked at her helplessly. "Isabella."

Bella tugged again on her arm, and Rosalie finally laid down gingerly next to her. She was still looking at her helplessly, with worry lines marring her face – more than Bella had ever seen before. Bella reached up one more time to touch Rosalie's face, and found herself pulled down into sleep.

Bella woke up again, what felt like hours later, to the sound of faint voices. She blearily opened her eyes, and looked around her empty room. She frowned and placed her hand on the bed next to her. It was still cool, and when Bella leaned down to smell her pillow it still smelled like Rosalie.

Bella laid back down. It wasn't a dream.

She focused on the voices coming from downstairs. Her body relaxed as she noticed that one of them was the soothing, rich female voice that she was yearning for.

"And you haven't taken her to see a doctor?" Rosalie's voice was accusatory.

"Well." Charlie said slowly. "Bella has always had odd things happening to her."

"Odd things?" Rosalie asked. "She looked like she was dying."

"Bella is more stubborn than you know." Charlie replied. "Besides, Jake came and took her to the reservation. He just brought her back yesterday – I'm sure she'll wake up today feeling better."

"Why the reservation?" Rosalie asked. "What was that supposed to do for her?"

Bella got up, grimacing at how hard it was to move her weak muscles. It was time to save Charlie from Rosalie's questioning. Bella knew that he wouldn't mean to, but it was possible that he'd let something slip to her that Bella couldn't explain away.

She walked towards the stairs slowly, noticing that the conversation had stopped downstairs. She rounded the corner of her door and gasped.

Rosalie caught her as she almost fell backwards. "Bella." She ran her eyes up and down Bella's form. "What are you doing?"

"Going downstairs." Bella said weakly.

Rosalie raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so."

Bella leaned a little bit more into her and shrugged. "I'm hungry."

"I'll bring you something."

Bella closed her eyes, feeling the coolness of Rosalie's body seep into her own. She had more energy than she had in days. She felt more like herself.

"You can shower while I get it ready." Rosalie wrinkled her nose. "You stink, Bella."

Bella widened her eyes at Rosalie and leaned down to sniff herself. She smelled like sweat and – if she tried hard enough – she could smell the muskiness that always permeated the reservation.

"I smell like dog?" Bella asked, and smiled as Rosalie's eyes widened. Bella rolled her eyes and turned around. "Fine, I'll shower."

A few minutes later Bella walked out of the bathroom in her towel, and laughed softly at the curses coming from downstairs. It smelled distinctly like burnt toast.

"Don't you laugh at me, Bella." Rosalie called from downstairs. "I haven't done this in a long time."

"Right," Bella said as she walked into her room and started pulling clothes on. "I guess you don't have many humans to feed."

Bella felt the air in her room shift, and as she turned around Rosalie was standing in her doorway with an unreadable look on her face.

"Humans?" Rosalie asked as she walked over to the bed and sat down gracefully, setting the plate down beside her.

Bella stared at her. Rosalie was looking at her with an unreadable expression and all Bella wanted to do was tell her. The secret of who she was felt like a wall between them, one that she simultaneously wanted nothing more than to tear down and also hold up with all her might.

Bella walked forward and sat down beside Rosalie, picking up a piece of burnt toast and taking a bite. "Thank you."

Rosalie was still looking at her.

"I'm feeling better now." Bella said after a few moments. "I'm sorry if I interrupted something or if I was out of line." She shifted her gaze away from Rosalie. "I guess it wasn't entirely my fault, Jake didn't have to call." The lie felt heavy on her tongue.

"You didn't interrupt anything." Rosalie said. "Bella…" She trailed off.

Bella looked up at her. She was frowning at the wall behind Bella. "I know that it might not seem like it, and that is –." She clenched her teeth. "– my fault." She moved her gaze from the wall to Bella. "But I will always answer your call."

"I'm sorry about – before." Bella blurted out. She looked down at her hands. "I – it wasn't –." Bella growled in frustration. "I didn't ask you to leave because I didn't want you here." She clenched her fists. "I asked you to leave because of me, because I don't want – me." She shook her head. "I know you don't understand, but I can't – I can't tell you right now."

Bella finally looked up at Rosalie. She was staring with an imperceptible look on her face. "I just need you to know that it wasn't you – you…" Bella trailed off. "You are perfect." She finally breathed out. "And I wish this was easier, but it's not going to be easy at all." She shook her head and laughed brokenly. "This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done, but I want to." She looked at Rosalie pleadingly. "Please, hear me when I say that I want to. I need to."

"You want to do what, exactly?" Rosalie asked.

Bella tapped her fingers against her knee and looked away. "I want to try – this."

"This?" Rosalie raised an eyebrow. Her lip twitched slightly.

Bella shook her head and leaned forward. "Aphrodite, don't make me say it." She reached up and grabbed Rosalie's face, and smiled slightly at the utterly surprised look on Rosalie's face before leaning in and kissing her.

Rosalie was a statue for less than half a second before her arms where around Bella and she was pushing back into her. Bella felt electricity run through her whole body as they kissed, and she pulled back when her hands started trembling.

Rosalie was staring at her with half-lidded eyes. She blinked them open and reached up to trail a finger down Bella's cheek. "Someone is feeling better."

Bella smiled. "It must have something to do with the pretty blonde who visited me." Bella's stomach knotted up as she remembered what Billy had said about her sickness.

Rosalie rolled her eyes and picked up a piece of toast to hand to her. "Eat."

Bella sighed and started eating the food again, stealing glances at Rosalie who wasn't even pretending to not be staring at Bella.

Bella jumped slightly as the house phone started ringing downstairs. She moved to get up but Rosalie was gone before she could stand up. Bella rolled her eyes and tried to listen as Rosalie answered the phone.

"Swan's residence."

"How is Bella?" Jake's rough voice came through the phone.

"Better." Rosalie said. "What do you want?"

"Is she awake?" Jake asked. "I want to talk to her."

Rosalie sighed and was quiet for a few seconds. "Hold on."

She was in front of Bella before she could blink. "It's –."

"I know." Bella stood up and took a step forward, but her room started spinning and she tipped forward. Rosalie caught her and picked her up. "I can walk –." Before she could finish that sentence they were downstairs and Rosalie was setting her down in one of the kitchen chairs.

Rosalie picked up the phone and handed it to her. Bella glared at her while she answered. "Hey, Jake."

"Bella!" Jake said. Bella grimaced at the throb his loud voice caused in her head. Rosalie sat down beside her and took the hand that wasn't holding the phone. She started running her fingers over Bella's hand and she found it extremely hard to concentrate on what Jake was saying.

"– better now?"

"Umm." Bella cleared her throat. "Yeah, I'm feeling better."

"When did you wake up?" Jake asked.

"Uh." Bella said. "I was in and out of it for a while, but I woke up last night for a minute and then this morning was the first time I got out of bed."

Jake was silent for a few moments. "So, Dad was right?"

Bella didn't look at Rosalie, whose gaze she could feel on her face. "It looks like it." Bella said softly.

He heaved a big sigh. "So, I guess there's no convincing you otherwise, is there?"

"Jake…" Bella said.

"You know what?" Jake asked. "I was actually hoping that you were going to tell me you weren't any better." He was choking on his words. "I was hoping Charlie would answer the phone and tell me that nothing was working because I didn't want –." He stopped. "How sick does that make me, Bella? That I would rather you be sick that you be –." He sucked in a breath. "I'm so sorry."

"Jake." Bella said. "I –."

"No, Bella." He said. "Don't you dare apologize. We both know what this means."

"Jake, we don't know anything –."

"I'm not a fucking moron, Bella." Jake said.

"Yeah, you are sometimes." Bella said. "Stop acting like this means more than what it means. Stop acting like I have to pick sides."

"Don't you?" He asked. "They hate us. We hate them. You can't just stay in the middle. They're fucking killers, Bella –."

Rosalie went still beside her. "Jacob." Bella said. "Get over your tribe's fucking prejudices."

He laughed. "Prejudice? It's called history, Bella."

"I am not having this conversation with you again." Bella ran a hand over her eyes. "But I need you to stop acting like being a giant wolf is any better than being any other supernatural creature –."

"We're better than vampires!" He shouted through the phone. "At least I don't have to kill to survive! My hands are clean, Bella, unlike theirs – they kill all the time!"

Bella's hand started trembling. She looked at it in surprise – she had never had that happen when arguing with Jake. She took a big breath and clenched her hand into a fist. "Watch your words, Jacob." She said in a dangerous voice.

He stopped talking.

"I'm going to come over and talk to Billy in the next few days." She said. "And I don't want hear any more of this when I get there." She hung up the phone.

She sat it down on the table in front of her and turned slowly to look at Rosalie.

She hadn't moved for a while, and the table was starting to crumble where her hand had been laying – her fingers now digging into the wood.

"How long have you known?"


End file.
